Henry's Songbook

But there was nothing sad about Miss Martin
Her smile lit up the classroom and her laughter filled the air
She taught us more than grammar in that little country school
Miss Martin taught us life and love and care

When I first knew Miss Alice Martin she was thirty-five and starting
To be seen as having let her chance in life go by
In the little town where I was growing not much of her life was known
But rumour said she'd loved a man who'd left her high and dry
It was the only explanation they could see for her migration
From the English schools where she'd spend most of her life
And mothers looked at her so sad because of kids she'd never had
And all the things she'd missed because she wasn't some man's wife

Our lessons we learnt thoroughly, we all could add and write and read
She didn't stand for nonsense though her sense of fun was strong
We'd sing the songs that children sing and she would play her mandolin
It seemed to us she must have known a hundred million songs

My classroom days are now long gone, I've grown up and settled down
And rarely do I get to see my hometown any more
Alice Martin still lives there, there's silver through her auburn hair
And you can still hear her mandolin behind her cottage door