Get a little table

Some people say it's jolly 
To lead a single life,
But I believe in marriage and
The comforts of a wife;
A wife's the greatest blessing, 
If she's honest, good and true,
So if you want to marry, boys
I'll tell you what to do:

Get a little table, get a little chair,
Get a tiny house in a little square,
Get a little wife then get a little tin,
Get a little cradle just to rock the baby in.

A single man in lodgings,
Cannot have much delight,
There's nobody to speak to when
He sits at home at night,
There's nothing to attract him, or
To pass the time away,
He'd quickly find the difference, 
If he'd list to what I say, and ...

A married man has comforts which,
A single man has not,
His clothes are well mended, and
His meals are always hot;
Of course they may have quarrels just
An odd one now and then.
It's almost worth while falling out,
To make it up again:

There's little use of asking
A girl to marry you,
Unless you have a little coin.
And a home to take her too;
A good wife loves to see her home
Cosy clean and nice,
So if you would be happy boys,
Why just take my advice:

This Harry Linn song pops up under various titles from source singers on both sides of the Atlantic. Linn is another of those Music Hall songwriters who has left many legacy songs in traditional music , including: The birds upon the trees and Jim the Carter lad. The British Library holds a copy of the sheet music, published by Hopwood and Crew which according to their records was “written and composed by Harry Linn”.

Linn performed mainly in the North and this may explain why it’s hard to find written evidence of him singing the song himself. Searching through 19th-century newspapers does indicate that was a well-known song, sung in the pantomime at Middlesbrough in 1882 and in amateur concerts from 1881 on.

It was part of the repertoire of Music Hall performer, Charles Coburn in the 1880s and 1890s. The earliest written record of it being sung on the professional stage is a review in The Era of a performance by Charles Coburn in March 1881. He was taking part in at an all-star benefit for  Arthur Lloyd, held at Wilton’s Music Hall :

This song is also found on broadsides on both sides of the Atlantic . It’s nicely summed up by Edith Fowke who collected it from the singing of Michael Leahy in Ontario Canada in 1958: Advice for getting a wife: get furniture.