72 - Neither Maid nor Man

Words: Tarren / Traditional
Tune: traditional

In October 2023, the folk trio Tarren spent a week at Cecil Sharp House in London researching traditional songs and creating new music celebrating gender non-conformity in folk music. The result of their residency was this song, ‘Neither Maid nor Man’.

In this article on the excellent TradFolk website, Danny Pedler of Tarren explains the background to the song.

"Folk music is a living tradition; it lives through reinterpretations and additions. Our song ‘Neither Maid nor Man’ aims to introduce stories of gender non-conformity into the folk canon. The first three verses are slightly rewritten versions of ‘The Female Cabin Boy’ and ‘William Taylor’ to reflect our research into the ‘warrior woman’ song type. We then introduce a story of our own Alex Garden coming out as non-binary in the 21st century."

He added: "Folk music is an exciting place to be right now. The music has found a chord with a younger audience who are bringing LGBTQIA+ issues to the fore. There is amazing work from trans and queer artists making folk a more welcoming place, a place where there is space to be neither maid nor man."

Lyrics added with kind permission of Tarren, September 2025

Neither man nor maid am I,
I’m neither maid nor man,
To weave or drum, to sail or fight,
I’ll prove to you I can,
I’ll show you who I am.

First the tale of a handsome girl as you may understand,
Her mind was bent on rambling into some foreign land.
She dressed herself in sailor’s clothes or so it did appear,
And she hired with a captain bold to serve him for a year.
To serve him for a year.

Neither man nor maid…

Next the tale of Sally wise, her heart was filled with woe,
Her William had enlisted, for a soldier he did go.
She dressed herself in man’s array, she cut her flowing hair
And showed the world all over that a soldier can be fair.
A soldier can be fair.

Neither man nor maid am I,
I’m neither maid nor man,
To weave or drum, to sail or fight,
I’ll prove to you I can,
I’ll show you who I am.

Thirdly of a pretty lad who would not beat the drum,
Adorned himself in garments gay, to London he did come.
Then he became apprenticed to a tailor proud and true,
To work the weft into the warp and dress the finest few.
To dress the finest few.

Neither man nor maid…

When I was approaching the age of twenty-five.
From my heart I took a vow; the truth for all my life,
I threw away my clothes and all, of gender I did speak,
Neither maid nor man am I and some call me a freak.
Yet others call me free.