Seventeenth Century Ballad: Batchelor's Delight

Question

We are the poorer if our genealogy is only a list of names, dates and places.  The richness of history comes from clues about what our ancestors were like, what they were thinking, and especially, what amused them.

I have encountered more than one Maryland land tract that the owner named "Batchelor's Delight."  What was that?  It turns out it was a popular ballad that people sang in the 1600s and 1700s.  

In one case the man -- named John Duckett -- bought the property -- and named it -- half a year before he married.  Obviously he actually thought marriage was a good goal -- but also may have mused that batchelorhood was something to be parted with wistfully.

Here are the words to  The Batchelor's Delight.  Presumably John Duckett's bride had also heard the words, and no doubt reminded him of them from time to time...

Comments

I love the names people gave to their land in Maryland, my ancestor named one of his tracts “Hope” but the others were more prosaic, including “Forest” and “Improvement” (maybe “Hope” hadn’t turned out so well?).

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My favorite Maryland tract name is "Pig's Misery"...

Answer 1

Keep in mind that 'bachelor' had other, older meanings than 'unmarried man,'  It originally meant someone who was a young man, a novice, or newly qualified for a skilled trade -- hence the term 'bachelor's degree,' which doesn't require the holder be unmarried.  One of my Thomas ancestors in Maryland had a property he called 'Bachelors Rest.'