Lyrics
In 1803 we sailed out to sea
Out from the sweet town of Derry
For Australia bound if we didn’t all drown
The marks of our fetters we carried
In the rusty iron chains we cried for our wean’s
Our good women we left in sorrow
As the main sails unfurled, our curses we hurled
At the English and thoughts of tomorrow
At the mouth of the Foyle, bid farwell to the soil
As down below decks we were lying
O’Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream
By a vision of bold Robert dying
The sun burned cruel as we dished out the gruel
Dan O’Connor was down with the fever
Sixty rebels today bound for Botany Bay
How many will reach their receiver?
Chorus
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
I cursed them to hell, as our bow fought the swell
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight
Wild horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight
Five weeks out to sea, we were now forty-three
We buried our comrades each morning
In our own slime, we were lost in the time
Endless night without dawning
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derr
Van Diemen’s land is a hell for a man
To end out his whole life in slavery
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law
Neither wind nor rain care for bravery
Twenty years have gone by, I’ve ended my bond
My comrades’ ghosts walk behind me
A rebel I came, I’m still the same
On the cold winter’s night you will find me
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
A hungry feeling came o’er me stealing
And the mice were squealing in my prison cell
Chorus
And the old triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
To begin the morning a screw was bawling
‘Get up you bowsie and clean up your cell’
And the old triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
On a fine spring evening the lag lay dreaming
The seagulls wheeling high over the wall
And the old triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
The lags were sleeping, Humpy Gussy was creeping
As I lay there weeping for my girl Sal
And the old triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
The day was dying and the wind was sighing
As I lay crying in my prison cell
And the old triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
In the female prison there are seventy five women
‘Tis among them I wish I did dwell
And the old triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
The canals and the bridges, the embankments and cuts,
They blasted and dug with their sweat and their guts
They never drank water but whiskey by pints
And the shanty towns rang with their songs and their fights
Chorus
Navigator, navigator rise up and be strong
The morning is here and there’s work to be done.
Take your pick and your shovel and the bold dynamite
For to shift a few tons of this earthly delight
Yes to shift a few tons of this earthly delight.
They died in their hundreds with no sign to mark where
Save the brass in the pocket of the entrepreneur.
By landslide and rockblast they got buried so deep
That in death if not life they’ll have peace while they sleep.
Navigator, navigator rise up and be strong
The morning is here and there’s work to be done.
Take your pick and your shovel and the bold dynamite
For to shift a few tons of this earthly delight
Yes to shift a few tons of this earthly delight.
Their mark on this land is still seen and still laid
The way for a commerce where vast fortunes were made
The supply of an empire where the sun never set
Which is now deep in darkness, but the railway’s there yet.
Navigator, navigator rise up and be strong
The morning is here and there’s work to be done.
Take your pick and your shovel and the bold dynamite
For to shift a few tons of this earthly delight
Yes to shift a few tons of this earthly delight
Of all the stars that ever shone
Not one does twinkle like your pale blue eyes
Like golden corn at harvest time your hair
Sailing in my boat the wind
Gently blows and fills my sail
Your sweet-scented breath is everywhere
Daylight peeping through the curtain
Of the passing night time is your smile
And the sun in the sky is like your laugh
Come back to me my Nancy
Linger for just a little while
Since you left these shores I’ve known no peace
Nor joy
Chorus
No matter where I wander I’m still haunted
By your name
The portrait of your beauty stays the same
Standing by the ocean wondering where you’ve
Gone, if you’ll return again
Where is the ring I gave to Nancy Spain
On a day in Spring when snow starts to melt
And streams to flow
With the birds I’ll sing this song
Then in the while I’ll wander
Down by bluebell stream where wild flowers grow
And I’ll hope that lovely Nancy will return
No matter where I wander I’m still haunted
By your name
The portrait of your beauty stays the same
Standing by the ocean wondering where you’ve
Gone, if you’ll return again
Where is the ring I gave to Nancy Spain
On Raglan Road of an autumn day
I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue
I saw the danger, and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And I said, “Let grief be a falling leaf
At the dawning of the day
On Grafton Street in November
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passions pledged
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay
Oh, I loved too much and by such, by such
Is happiness thrown away
I gave her gifts of the mind
I gave her the secret sign
That’s known to the artists who have known
The true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint without stint
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her own dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly
My reason must allow
That I had loved not as I should
A creature made of clay
When the angel woos the clay
He’d lose his wings at the dawn of day
In the merry month of June from me home I started
Left the girls of Tuam nearly broken hearted
Saluted Father dear, kissed me darling mother
Drank a pint of beer, me grief and tears to smother
Then off to reap the corn, leave where I was born
Cut a stout blackthorn to banish ghosts and goblins
A brand new pair of brogues, rattlin’ o’er the bogs
Frightenin’ all the dogs on the rocky road to Dublin
One two three four five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, Whack fol lol le rah!
In Mullingar that night I rested limbs so weary
Started by daylight me spirits bright and airy
Took a drop of the pure
Keep me heart from sinking
That’s the Paddy’s cure whenever he’s on drinking
To see the lassies smile, laughing all the while
At me curious style, ‘twould set your heart a bubblin’
An’ asked if I was hired, wages I required
‘Till I was nearly tired of the rocky road to Dublin
One two three four five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, Whack fol lol le rah!
In Dublin next arrived, I thought it such a pity
To be soon deprived a view of that fine city
Well then I took a stroll, all among the quality
Bundle it was stole, all in a neat locality
Something crossed me mind, when I looked behind
No bundle could I find upon me stick a wobblin’
Enquiring for the rogue, said me Connaught brogue
Wasn’t much in vogue on the rocky road to Dublin
One two three four five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, Whack fol lol le rah!
From there I got away, me spirits never falling
Landed on the quay, just as the ship was sailing
The Captain at me roared, said that no room had he
When I jumped aboard, a cabin found for Paddy
Down among the pigs, played some funny rigs
Danced some hearty jigs, the water round me bubbling
When off Holyhead wished meself was dead
Or better far instead
On the rocky road to Dublin
One two three four five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, Whack fol lol le rah!
The boys of Liverpool, when we safely landed
Called meself a fool, I could no longer stand it
Blood began to boil, temper I was losing
Poor old Erin’s isle they began abusing
“Hurrah me soul!” says I, me shillelagh I let fly
Some Galway boys were nigh and saw I was a hobble in
With a loud “Hurray!” joined in the affray
We quickly cleared the way for the rocky road to Dublin
One two three four five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, Whack fol lol le rah!
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, Whack fol lol le rah!
Whack fol lol le rah!
Whack fol lol le rah!
Well there was an old woman
and she lived in the woods
Weile weile waile
There was an old woman
and she lived in the woods
Down by the river Saile
She had a baby 3 months old
weile weile waile
She had a baby 3 months old,
down by the river Saile
She had a penknife long and sharp,
weile weile waile
She had a penknife long and sharp
down by the river Saile
She stuck the penknife in the baby’s heart
weile weile waile
She stuck the penknife in the baby’s heart
down by the river Saile
Three hard knock came knocking on the door
weile weile waile
Three hard knocks came knocking on the door
down by the river Saile
There were two policemen and a Special Branch man,
weile weile waile.
There were two policemen and a Special Branch man
down by the River Saile.
Are you the woman that killed the child
weile weile waile
Are you the woman that killed the child
down by the river Saile.
They took her away and they put her in the jail
Weile Weile Waile
They took her away and they put her in the jail
down by the River Saile.
The rope was pulled and she got hung
weile weile waile
The rope was pulled and she got hung
down by the river Saile
And that was the end of the woman in the woods
weile weile waile
And that was the end of the baby too
down by the river Saile
I was born on a Dublin street where the Royal drums the beat
And the loving English feet they went all over us
And every single night when me da’ would came home tight
He’d invite the neighbors out with this chorus
Chorus
Come out ye black and tans, come out and fight me like a man
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra
Come tell us how you slew them old Arabs two by two
Like the Zulus they had spears, bows and arrows
How brave you faced one with your 16-pounder gun
And you frightened them natives to their marrow
Come out ye black and tans, come out and fight me like a man
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra
Come let us hear you tell how you slandered great Parnell
When you fought them well and truly persecuted
Where are the sneers and jeers that you loudly let us hear
When our leaders of sixteen were executed?
Come out ye black and tans, come out and fight me like a man
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra
Come out ye black and tans, come out and fight me like a man
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra
There was a woman in our town
A woman you all know well
She really loved her husband
And another man twice as well
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
She went into the chemist shop
Some remedies for to buy
Have you anything in your chemist shop
To make me aul man blind
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
Oh give him eggs and marrowbones
And make him suck them all
And before he has the last one sucked
He wont see you at all
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
She gave him eggs and marrow bones
And made him suck them all
And before he had the last one sucked
He couldnt see her at all
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
If in this world I cannot see
Well here i cannot stay
I’d rather go and drown meself
Says she cmon ill show you the way
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
She led him to the river
She led him to the brim
Sly enough of Martin
it was him that shoved her in
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
She swam through the river
She swam to the brim
Martin dear Martin dont leave me behind
A shuddup ya silly aul fool
Ya know poor Martin is blind
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
Theres 9 in me family
And none of them is me own
I wish that each and every man
Would come and claim his own
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
With me right finnigo neario
Tip finnigo war
With me right finnigo neario
Tippin’ it up to Nancy
Last night as I lay dreamin’
Of pleasant days gone by
Me mind bein’ bent on rambling
To Ireland I did fly
I stepped on board a vision and
I followed with the wind
Till first I came to anchor at
The cross at Spancil Hill
It being the 23rd of June
The day before the fair
Where Ireland’s sons and daughters
And friends assembled there
The young, the old
The brave and the bold came
Their duty to fulfill
At the parish church near Clooney
A mile from Spancil Hill
I went to see my neighbours to
See what they might say
The old ones were all dead and gone
The young ones turning grey
I met the tailor Quigley
He’s as bold as ever still
He used to mend my britches when
I lived in Spancil Hill
I took a flying visit to my one and only love
She’s as white as any lily
As gentle as a dove
She threw her arms around
Me, saying “Johnny, i love you still”
She is Nell, the farmer’s daughter
The pride of Spancil Hill
I dreamt I held and kissed her
As in the days of old
Saying, “Johnny, you’re only joking
As many’s the time before”
But the cock, he crew in the morning
He crew both loud and shrill
I awoke in California
Many miles from Spancil Hill
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young girl calling
“Michael, they have taken you away
For you stole Trevelyan’s corn
So the young might see the morn
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay
Chorus
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing we had dreams and songs to sing
It’s so lonely ’round the fields of Athenry
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young man calling
“Nothing matters, Mary, when you’re free
Against the famine and the crown
I rebelled, they cut me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity”
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing we had dreams and songs to sing
It’s so lonely ’round the fields of Athenry
By a lonely harbour wall
She watched the last star falling
As that prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she lived in hope and pray
For her love in Botany Bay
It’s so lonely ’round the fields of Athenry
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing we had dreams and songs to sing
It’s so lonely ’round the fields of Athenry
Of all the money that e’er I had
I have spent it in good company
Oh and all the harm I’ve ever done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I’ve done for want of wit
To memory now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be to you all
Oh if I had money enough to spend
And leisure time to sit a while
There is a fair maid in this town
That sorely has my heart beguiled
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips
I own she has my heart in thrall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all
Of all the comrades that e’er I had
They’re sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e’er I had
They would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I’ll gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all
I’m an ordinary man, nothing special nothing grand
I’ve had to work for everything I own
I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I got
Enough to keep my family and my home
They say that times are hard and they’ve handed me my cards
They say there’s not the work to go around
But when the whistle blows, the gates will finally close
Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down
Then they’ll tear it down
I never missed a day nor went on strike for better pay
For twenty years I served them best I could
Now with a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget
Loyalty through the bad times and through good
The owner says he’s sad to see that things have got so bad
But the captains of industry won’t let him lose
He still smokes his cigar and he drives a brand new car
And still he takes his family on a cruise, he’ll never lose
It seems to me such a cruel irony
He’s richer now then he ever was before
And now my cheque is spent, I can’t afford the rent
There’s one law for the rich, one law for the poor
Every day I’ve tried to salvage some of my pride
To find some work so’s I might pay my way
Oh but everywhere I go, the answer’s always no
No work for anyone here today, no work today
No work today
And so condemned I stand, an ordinary man
Like thousands beside me in the queue
I watch my darling wife trying to make the best of life
And God knows what the kids are going to do
Now we are faced with this human waste
A generation cast aside
For as long as I live, I never will forgive
You’ve stripped me of my dignity and pride, you’ve stripped me bare
You’ve stripped me bare
No work today
No work today
Oh, Peggy Gordon, you are my darling
Come sit you down upon my knee
Come tell to me the very reason
Why I am slighted so by thee
I’m so in love, I can’t deny it
My heart lies smothered in my breast
It’s not for you to let the world know it
A troubled mind can know no rest
I did put my head to a cask of brandy
It was my fancy I do declare
For when I’m drinking I am thinking
And wishing Peggy Gordon was here
Chorus
Oh, Peggy Gordon, you are my darling
Come sit you down upon my knee
Come tell to me the very reason
Why I am slighted so by thee
I put my head To a cask of brandy
It was my fancy I do declare
For when I’m drinking I’m always thinking
And wishing Peggy Gordon was there
Oh, Peggy Gordon, you are my darling
Come sit you down upon my knee
Come tell to me the very reason
Why I am slighted so by thee
I wish I was away in Ingo
Far across the briny sea
Sailing o’er the deepest ocean
Where love nor care ever bother me
I wish I was in some lonesome valley
Where womankind cannot be found
Where the pretty small birds
Do change their voices
And ev’ry moment a diff’rent sound
Oh, Peggy Gordon, you are my darling
Come sit you down upon my knee
Come tell to me the very reason
Why I am slighted so by thee
Born in the middle of the afternoon
In a horsedrawn carriage on the old A-5
The big twelve wheeler shook my bed
You can′t stay here the policeman said
You’d better get born in some place else
Move along get along
Move along get along
Go! Move! Shift
Born in the common by a building site
Where the ground was rutted by the trail of wheels
The local Christian said to me
You′ll lower the price of property
You’d better get born in some place else
So move along get along
Move along, get along
Go! Move! Shift
Born at the back of a hawthorn hedge
Where the black hole frost lay on the ground
No eastern kings came bearing gifts
Instead the order came to shift
You’d better get born in some place else
Move along, get along
Move along, get along
Go! Move! Shift
The eastern sky was full of stars
And one shone brighter than the rest
The wise men came so stern and strict
And brought the orders to evict
You′d better get born in some place else
Move along, get along
Move along, get along
Go! Move! Shift
Wagon tent or trailer born
Last month, last year or in far off days
Born here or a thousand miles away
There′s always men nearby who’ll say
You′d better get born in some place else
Move along, get along
Move along, get along
Go! Move! Shift
Move along, get along
Move along, get along
Go! Move! Shift
Move along, get along
Move along, get along
Go!
Move!
Shift
How’s it goin’ there everybody,
From Cork, New York, Dundalk, Gortahork and Glenamaddy.
Here we are in the County Clare
It’s a long, long way from here to there.
There’s the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher,
And the Tulla and the Kilfenora,
Miko Russell, Doctor Bill,
Willy Clancy and Noel Hill.
Flutes and fiddles everywhere.
If it’s music you want,
You should go to Clare.
Chorus
Oh, Lisdoonvarna
Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoonvarna!
Everybody needs a break,
Climb a mountain or jump in a lake.
Some head off to exotic places,
Others go to the Galway Races.
Mattie goes to the South of France,
Jim to the dogs, Peter to the dance.
A cousin of mine goes potholing,
A cousin of here’s loves Joe Dolan.
Summer comes around each year,
We go there and they come here.
Some jet off to … Frijiliana,
But I always go to Lisdoonvarna.
Oh, Lisdoonvarna
Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoonvarna!
I always leave on a Thursday night,
With me tent and me groundsheet rolled up tight.
I like to hit Lisdoon,
In around Friday afternoon.
This gives me time to get me gear together,
I don’t need to worry about the weather.
Ramble in for a pint of stout,
And you’d never know who’d be hangin’ about!
There’s a Dutchman playing a mandolin,
And a German looking for Liam Óg O’Floinn.
And there’s Adam, Bono and Garrett Fitzgerald,
Gettin’ their photos taken for the Sunday World.
Finbarr, Charlie and Jim Hand,
And they drinkin’ pints to bate the band.
Ain’t it grand?
Oh, Lisdoonvarna
Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoonvarna!
The multitudes, they flocked and thronged,
To hear the music and the songs.
Motorbikes and Hi-ace vans,
With bottles – barrels – flagons – cans.
Mighty craic. Loads of frolics,
Pioneers and alcoholics,
PLAC, SPUC and the FCA,
Free Nicky Kelly and the IRA.
Hairy chests and milk-white thighs,
And mickey dodgers in disguise.
Mc Graths, O’Briens, Pippins, Coxs,
Massage parlours in horse boxes.
There’s amhráns, bodhráns, amadáns,
Arab sheiks, Hindu Sikhs, Jesus freaks,
RTE are makin’ tapes, takin’ breaks and throwin’ shapes.
This is heaven, this is hell.
Who cares? Who can tell?
Anyone for the last few Choc Ices, now
Oh, Lisdoonvarna
Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoonvarna!
A 747 for Jackson Browne,
They had to build a special runway just to get him down.
Before the Chieftains could start to play,
Seven creamy pints came out on a tray.
Shergar was ridden by Lord Lucan,
Seán Cannon did the backstage cookin’.
Clannad were playin’ “Harry’s Game”,
Christy was singin’ “Nancy Spain”.
Mary O’Hara and Brush Shields,
Together singin’ “The Four Green Fields”.
Van the Man and Emmy Lou,
Moving Hearts and Planxty too!
Oh, Lisdoonvarna
Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoonvarna!
Everybody needs a break,
Climb a mountain or jump in a lake.
Sean Doherty goes to the Rose of Tralee,
Oliver J. Flanagan goes swimming in the Holy Sea.
But I like the music and the open air,
So every Summer I go to Clare.
Coz Woodstock, Knock nor the Feast of Cana,
Can hold a match to Lisdoonvarna.
Oh, Lisdoonvarna
Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoon, Lisdoonvarna!
Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Step it out, Mary, if you can
Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Show your legs to the countryman
In the village of Kilgory, there’s a maiden young and fair
Her eyes shine like diamonds, she has long and golden hair
The countryman came calling up to her father’s gates
He rode on a milk white stallion he came at the strike of eight
So step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Step it out, Mary, if you can
Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Show your leg to the countryman
I’ve come to court your daughter, Mary of the golden hair
I’ve gold and I have silver, I have lands beyond compare
I’ll buy her silks and satins and a gold ring for her hand
She shall have a mansion, she’ll have servants to command
So step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Step it out, Mary, if you can
Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Show your legs to the countryman
I am promised to a soldier I have pledged to him my hand
I don’t want your gold and silver, I don’t want your house and land
But her father spoke up sharply you will do as you are told
You will wed with him on sunday you will wear his ring of gold
So step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Step it out, Mary, if you can
Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Show your legs to the countryman
In the village of Kilgory theres a river running by
They found mary there on Sunday
She had drowned with her soldier boy
She had drowned with her soldier boy
She had drowned with her soldier boy
So step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Step it out, Mary, if you can
Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Show your legs to the countryman
So step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Step it out, Mary, if you can
Step it out, Mary, my fine daughter
Show your legs to the countryman
Show your legs to the countryman
Black is the colour of my true love’s hair,
Her lips are like some roses fair,
She’s the sweetest smile, And the gentlest hands,
I love the ground, Whereon she stands.
I love my love and well she knows,
I love the ground, whereon she goes,
I wish the day, it soon would come,
When she & I could be as one.
Chorus
Black is the colour of my true love’s hair,
Her lips are like some roses fair,
She’s the sweetest smile, And the gentlest hands,
I love the ground, Whereon she stands.
I go to the Clyde and I mourn and weep,
For satisfied, I ne’er can be,
I write her a letter, just a few short lines,
And suffer death, a thousand times.
Black is the colour of my true love’s hair,
Her lips are like some roses fair
She’s the sweetest smile, And the gentlest hands
I love the ground, Whereon she stands.
Black is the colour of my true love’s hair,
Her lips are like some roses fair
She’s the sweetest smile, And the gentlest hands
I love the ground, Whereon she stands.
True you ride the finest horse I’ve ever seen
Standing 16 1″ or 2″ with eyes wild and green
And you ride the horse so well, hands light to the touch
I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to
Chorus
Ride on, see you, I could never go with you
No matter how I wanted to
When you ride into the night without a trace behind
Run your claw along my gut one last time
I turn to face an empty space where once you used to lie
And look for a smile to light the night through a teardrop in my eye
Ride on, see you, I could never go with you
No matter how I wanted to
Once upon a time there was Irish ways and Irish laws
Villages of Irish blood waking to the morning
Waking to the morning
Then the Vikings came around, turned us up and turned us down
Started building boats and towns, they tried to change our living
They tried to change our living
Cromwell and the soldiers came, started centuries of shame
But they could not make us turn, we are a river flowing
We’re a river flowing
Again, again the soldiers came, burnt our houses, stole our grain
Shot the farmers in their fields working for a living
They were working for a living
Eight hundred years we have been down, the secret of the water sound
Has kept the spirit of a man above the pain descending
Above the pain descendingToday the struggle carries on, I wonder will I live so long
To see the gates being opened up to a people and their freedom
A people and their freedom
In Glenravel’s Glen there lives a man whom some would call a god
For he could cure your shakes with a bottle of his stuff would cost you thirty bob
Come winter, summer, frost all over, a jiggin’ Spring on the breeze
In the dead of night a man steps by, “McIlhatton, if you please”
Chorus
McIlhatton you blurt we need you, cry a million shaking men
Where are your sacks of barley, will your likes be seen again?
Heres a jig to the man and a reel to the drop and a swing to the girl he loves
May your fiddle play and poitín cure your company up above
Theres a wisp of smoke to the south of the Glen and the poitín is on the air
The birds in the burrows and the rabbits in the sky and there’s drunkards everywhere
At Skerries Rock the fox is out and begod he’s chasing the hounds
And the only thing in decent shape is buried beneath the ground
McIlhatton you blurt we need you, cry a million shaking men
Where are your sacks of barley, will your likes be seen again?
Heres a jig to the man and a reel to the drop and a swing to the girl he loves
May your fiddle play and poitín cure your company up above
At McIlhatton’s house the fairies are out and dancing on the hobs
The goat’s collapsed and the dog has run away and there’s salmon down the bogs
He has a million gallons of wash and the peelers are on the Glen
But they’ll never catch that hackler cos he’s not comin’ home again
In nineteen hundred and eighty six
There’s not much for a chippie but swinging a pick
And you can’t live on love, on love alone
So you sail cross the ocean, away cross the foam
To where you’re a Paddy, a Biddy or a Mick
Good for nothing but stacking a brick
Your best mate’s a spade and he carries a hod
Two work horses heavily shod
Oh I’m missing you
I’d give all for the price of a flight
Oh I’m missing you
Under Piccadilly’s neon
Who did you murder, are you a spy?
I’m just fond of a drink helps me laugh, helps me cry
So I just drink red biddy for a permanent high
I laugh a lot less and I’ll cry till I die
All ye young people now take my advice
Before crossing the ocean you’d better think twice
Cause you can’t live without love, without love alone
The proof is round London in the nobody zone
Where the summer is fine, but the winter’s a fridge
Wrapped up in old cardboard under Charing Cross Bridge
And I’ll never go home now because of the shame
Of misfit’s reflection in a shop window pane
Well, how do you do, young Willie McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun
I’ve been walking all day, and I’m nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the great fallen in 1916
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean
Or young Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene
Chorus
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest
Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
Although, you died back in 1916
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enclosed in forever behind the glass frame
In an old photograph, torn, battered and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus
And did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest
The sun now it shines on the green fields of France
There’s a warm summer breeze that makes the red poppies dance
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds
There’s no gas, no barbed wire, there’s no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it’s still No Man’s Land
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest
Ah young Willie McBride, I can’t help wonder why
Do those that lie here know why did they die?
And did they believe when they answered the cause
Did they really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain
The killing and dying, were all done in vain
For young Willie McBride, it all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus
And did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest
The tears have all been she’d now
We’ve said our last goodbyes
His soul’s been blest
He’s laid to rest
And now I feel alone
He was more then just my father
My teacher, my best friend
And he’ll still be heard
In the tunes we’ve shared
When I play them on my own
Chorus
I never will forget him
For he made me what I am
Though he may be gone
Memories linger on
And I miss him, the old man
As a boy, he’d take me walking
By mountain, feild, and stream
And he’d show me thing
Not know to kids
A secret between him and me
Like the colors on a pheasant
As he rises in the dawn
Or how to fish, or make a wish
Beside a fairy tree
I never will forget him
For he made me what I am
Though he may be gone
Memories linger on
And I miss him, the old man
I thought he’d live forever
He seemed so big and strong
But the minutes fly
And the years roll by
For a father and a son
And suddenly when it happened
There was so much left unsaid
No second chance to tell him thanks
For everything he’d done
Oh, I never will forget him
For he made me what I am
Though he may be gone
Memories linger on
God I miss him, the old man
In comes the train,and the whole platform shakes,
it stops with a shudder,and a screaming of brakes,
my leaving has come and my weary soul aches,
i’m leaving my nancy o.
You stand there beside me determinedly gay,
we talk of the weather and events of the day,
but your eyes tell me all that your lips would’nt say,
goodbye my nancy o.
cho.
So come a little closer,
put your head upon my shoulder,
and let me hold you one more time,
goodbye my nancy o.
My suitcase is lifted and stoad on the train,
a thousand regrets whirl around in my
brain,
the ache in my heart is a black sea of pain,
i’m leaving my nancy o.
You stand there before me so lovely to see,
the grip of your hand is an unspoken plea,
you’re not fooling yourself, and your’re not fooling me,
goodbye my nancy o.
Our time has run out and the whistle has blown,
and here i must leave you standing alone,
we had so little time and now the times gone,
i’m leaving my nancy o.
And as the train starts gently to roll,
and as i lean out for to wave and to call,
i see the first tears trickling forth,
goodbye my nancy o.
As down the glen one Easter morn
To a city fair rode I
There armed lines of marching men
In squadrons passed me by
No pipe did hum
No battle drum did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus Bells o’er the Liffey swells
Rang out in the foggy dew
Right proudly high in Dublin town
Hung they out a flag of war
‘Twas better to die ‘neath that Irish sky
Than at Sulva or Sud-El-Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath
Strong men came hurrying through
While Brittania’s Huns with their long range guns
Sailed in through the foggy dew
Their bravest fell and the requiem bell
Rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Eastertide in the
Springing of the year
While the world did gaze with deep amaze
At those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight that freedom’s light
Might shine through the foggy dew
And back through the glen, I rode again
And my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men
Whom I never shall see n’more
But to and fro in my dreams I go
And I kneel and pray for you
For slavery fled, O glorious dead
When you fell in the foggy dew
In a neat little town they call Belfast
Apprentice to a trade I was bound
And many’s an hour’s sweet happiness
Have I spent in this neat little town.
A sad misfortune came over me
Which caused me to stray from the land
Far away from my friends and relations
Betrayed by the black velvet band.
Chorus
Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulders
Tied up with a black velvet band.
I took a stroll down Broadway
Meaning not long for to stay
When who should I meet but this pretty fair maid
Came a traipsing along the highway
She was both fair and handsome
Her neck it was just like a swans’
And her hair is hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band.
Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulders
Tied up with a black velvet band.
I took a stroll with this pretty fair maid
And the gentleman passing us by
Well I knew she meant the doing of him
By the look in her roguish black eye
A gold watch she took from his pocket
And placed it right into my hand
And the very first thing I said was
Bad ‘cess to the black velvet band.
Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulders
Tied up with a black velvet band.
Before the judge and the jury
Next morning I had to appear
And the judge he said to me ‘Young man
Your case is proven clear’
We’ll give you seven years penal servitude
To be spent far away from the land
Far away from your friends and companions
Betrayed by the black velvet band.
Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulders
Tied up with a black velvet band.
They say that the lakes of Killarney are fair
No stream like the Liffey could ever compare
If it’s water you want you’ll get nothing more rare
Than the stuff they make down by the ocean
Chorus
The sea, oh the sea, oh a gradh geal mo chroide
Long may it stay between England and me
It’s a sure guarantee that some hour we’ll be free
Thank God we’re surrounded by water
Tom Moore made his waters by fame and renown
A great lover of anything dressed in a crown
In brandy the bandy old Saxon he’d drown
But throw ne’er a one in the ocean
The sea, oh the sea, oh a gradh geal mo chroide
Long may it stay between England and me
It’s a sure guarantee that some hour we’ll be free
Thank God we’re surrounded by water
The Scots have their whiskey, the Welsh have their speech
Their poets are paid about ten pence a week
Provided no hard word on England they speak
Oh Lord what a price for devotion
The sea, oh the sea, oh a gradh geal mo chroide
Long may it stay between England and me
It’s a sure guarantee that some hour we’ll be free
Thank God we’re surrounded by water
The Danes came to Ireland with nothing to do
But dream of the plundered old Irish they slew
‘Well you will in your Vikings’ said Brain Boru
Then he threw them back into the ocean
The sea, oh the sea, oh a gradh geal mo chroide
Long may it stay between England and me
It’s a sure guarantee that some hour we’ll be free
Thank God we’re surrounded by water
Two foreign old monarchs in battle did join
Each wanting his head on the back of a coin
If the Irish had sense they’d drown both in the Boyne
And Partition throw into the ocean
The sea, oh the sea, oh a gradh geal mo chroide
Long may it stay between England and me
It’s a sure guarantee that some hour we’ll be free
Thank God we’re surrounded by water
Tim Finnegan lived in Walkin Street, a gentle Irishman mighty odd
He had a brogue both rich and sweet, an’ to rise in the world he carried a hod
You see he’d a sort of a tipplers way but the love for the liquor poor Tim was born
To help him on his way each day, he’d a drop of the craythur every morn
Chorus
Whack fol the dah now dance to yer partner around the flure yer trotters shake
Wasn’t it the truth I told you? Lots of fun at Finnegan’s Wake
One morning Tim got rather full, his head felt heavy which made him shake
Fell from a ladder and he broke his skull, and they carried him home his corpse to wake
Rolled him up in a nice clean sheet, and laid him out upon the bed
A bottle of whiskey at his feet and a barrel of porter at his head
Whack fol the dah now dance to yer partner around the flure yer trotters shake
Wasn’t it the truth I told you? Lots of fun at Finnegan’s Wake
His friends assembled at the wake, and Mrs Finnegan called for lunch
First she brought in tay and cake, then pipes, tobacco and whiskey punch
Biddy O’Brien began to cry, “Such a nice clean corpse, did you ever see,
Tim avourneen, why did you die?”, “Will ye hould your gob?” said Paddy McGee
Whack fol the dah now dance to yer partner around the flure yer trotters shake
Wasn’t it the truth I told you? Lots of fun at Finnegan’s Wake
Then Maggie O’Connor took up the job, “Biddy” says she “you’re wrong, I’m sure”
Biddy gave her a belt in the gob and left her sprawling on the floor
Then the war did soon engage, t’was woman to woman and man to man
Shillelagh law was all the rage and a row and a ruction soon began
Whack fol the dah now dance to yer partner around the flure yer trotters shake
Wasn’t it the truth I told you? Lots of fun at Finnegan’s Wake
Mickey Maloney ducked his head when a bucket of whiskey flew at him
It missed, and falling on the bed, the liquor scattered over Tim
Bedad he revives, see how he rises, Timothy rising from the bed
Saying “Whittle your whiskey around like blazes, t’underin’ Jaysus, do ye think I’m dead
Whack fol the dah now dance to yer partner around the flure yer trotters shake
Wasn’t it the truth I told you? Lots of fun at Finnegan’s Wake
Whack fol the dah now dance to yer partner around the flure yer trotters shake
Wasn’t it the truth I told you? Lots of fun at Finnegan’s Wake
Good evening, all my jolly lads, I’m glad to find you well
If you’ll gather all around me, now, the story I will tell
For I’ve got a situation and begorrah and begob
I can whisper ive the weekly wage of nineteen bob
‘Tis twelve months come October since I left me native home
After helping them Killarney boys to bring the harvest down
But now I wear the gansey and around me waist a belt
I’m the gaffer of the squad that makes the hot asphalt
Well, we laid it in a hollows and we laid it in the flat
And if it doesn’t last forever, sure I swear, I’ll eat me hat
Well, I’ve wandered up and down the world and sure I never felt
Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt
The other night a copper comes and he says to me, McGuire
Would you kindly let me light me pipe down at your boiler fire?
And he planks himself right down in front, with hobnails up, till late
And says I, me decent man, you’d better go and find your bait
He ups and yells, I’m down on you, I’m up to all yer pranks
Don’t I know you for a traitor from the Tipperary ranks?
Boys, I hit straight from the shoulder and I gave him such a belt
That I knocked him into the boiler full of hot asphalt
Well, we laid it in a hollows and we laid it in the flat
And if it doesn’t last forever, sure I swear, I’ll eat me hat
Well, I’ve wandered up and down the world and sure I never felt
Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt
We quickly dragged him out again and we threw him in the tub
And with soap and warm water we began to rub and scrub
But devil the thing, it hardened and it turned him hard as stone
And with every other rub, sure you could hear the copper groan
I’m thinking, says O’Reilly, that he’s lookin’ like old Nick
And burn me if I am not inclined to claim him with me pick
Now, says I, it would be easier to boil him till he melts
And to stir him nice and easy in the hot asphalt
Well, we laid it in a hollows and we laid it in the flat
And if it doesn’t last forever, sure I swear, I’ll eat me hat
Well, I’ve wandered up and down the world and sure I never felt
Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt
You may talk about yer sailor lads, ballad singers and the rest
Your shoemakers and your tailors but we please the ladies best
The only ones who know the way their flinty hearts to melt
Are the lads around the boiler making hot asphalt
With rubbing and with scrubbing, sure I caught me death of cold
For scientific purposes, me body it was sold
In the Kelvin grove museum, me boys, I’m hangin’ in me pelt
As a monument to the Irish, making hot asphalt
Well, we laid it in a hollows and we laid it in the flat
And if it doesn’t last forever, sure I swear, I’ll eat me hat
Well, I’ve wandered up and down the world and sure I never felt
Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt
One evening fair as the sun was shining
To Kilkenny I did ride
I did meet with Captain Franey
A tall commander by his side
Then you are welcome, Highland Paddy
By my side you’ll surely stand
Hear the people shout for freedom
We’ll rise in the morning
With the Fenian band
Rise in the morning with the Fenian band
In the mornin’ we rose early
Just before the break of dawn
Blackbirds singing in the bushes
Greetings to a smiling morn’
Gather round me, men of Ireland
Gather Fenians, gather round
Hand to hand with sword and musket
Spill the blood upon this holy ground
Then you are welcome, Highland Paddy
By my side you’ll surely stand
Hear the people shout for freedom
We’ll rise in the morning
With the Fenian band
Rise in the morning with the Fenian band
There’s a glen beside a river
Just outside Kilkenny Town
There I met this noble captain
Men lay dead upon the ground
Then you are welcome, Highland Paddy
By my side you’ll surely stand
Hear the people shout for freedom
We’ll rise in the morning
With the Fenian band
Rise in the morning with the Fenian band
There’s a grave beside a river
A mile outside Kilkenny Town
There we laid our noble captain
Birds were silent when this Fenian died
All my life, I will remember
I’ll remember, night and day
That once I rode into Kilkenny
And I heard this noble captain say
Then you are welcome, Highland Paddy
By my side you’ll surely stand
Hear the people shout for freedom
We’ll rise in the morning
With the Fenian band
Rise in the morning with the Fenian band
Then you are welcome, Highland Paddy
By my side you’ll surely stand
Hear the people shout for freedom
We’ll rise in the morning
With the Fenian band
Rise in the morning with the Fenian band
Sad are the homes round Garryowen
Since they lost their joy and pride
And the banshee cry links every vale
Along the Shannonside
That city of the ancient walls
Unbroken treaty stone
Undying fame surrounds your name
Sean South from Garryowen
‘Twas on a dreary New Year’s Eve
As the shades of night came down
A lorry load of volunteers
Approached the border town
There were men from Dublin and from Cork
Fermanagh and Tyrone
And their leader was a Limerick man
Sean South from Garryowen
As they moved along the street
Up to the barracks door
They scorned the danger they might face
Their fate that lay in store
They were fighting for old Ireland
To claim their very own
And the foremost of that gallant band
Was South from Garryowen
But the sergeant spied their daring plan
He spied them through the door
The Sten guns and the rifles a
Hail of death did pour
And when that awful night had passed
Two men lay cold as stone
There was one from near the border
And one from Garryowen
No more he will hear the seagull’s cry
O’er the murmurring Shannon tide
For he fell beneath a northern sky
Brave Hanlon by his side
They have gone to join that gallant band
Of Plunkett, Pearse and Tone
A martyr for old Ireland
Sean South from Garryowen
There were three old gypsies came to our hall door
They came brave and boldly-o
And one sang high and the other sang low
And the other sang a raggle taggle gypsy-o
It was upstairs downstairs the lady went
Put on her suit of leather-o
And there was a cry from around the door
She’s away wi’ the raggle taggle gypsy-o
It was late that night when the Lord came in
Enquiring for his lady-o
And the servant girl she said to the Lord
She’s away wi’ the raggle taggle gypsy-o
Then saddle for me my milk white steed
My big horse is not speedy-o
And I will ride till I seek my bride
She’s away wi’ the raggle taggle gypsy-o
Now he rode East and he rode West
He rode North and South also
Until he came to a wide open plain
It was there that he spied his lady-o
“How could you leave your goose feather bed
Your blankeys strewn so comely-o
And how could you leave your newly wedded Lord
All for a raggle taggle gypsy-o
Ara what do I care for my goose feather bed
Wi’ blankets strewn so comely-o
Tonight I lie in a wide open field
In the arms of a raggle taggle gypsy-o
“How could you leave your house and your land
How could you leave your money-o
How could you leave your only wedded Lord
All for a raggle taggle gypsy-o
“What do I care for my house and my land
What do I care for my money-o
I’d rather have a kiss from the yellow gypsy’s lips
I’m away wi’ the raggle taggle gypsy-o
One summer evening drunk to hell
I stood there nearly lifeless
An old man in the corner sang
Where the water lilies grow
And on the jukebox johnny sang
About a thing called love
And its how are you kid and whats your name
And how would you bloody know
In blood and death neath a screaming sky
I lay down on the ground
And the arms and legs of other men
Were scattered all around
Some cursed, some prayed, some prayed then cursed
Then prayed and bled some more
And the only thing that I could see
Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me
But when we got back, labeled parts one to three
There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me
Chorus
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I’ll go
For a pair of brown eyes
I looked at him he looked at me
All I could do was hate him
While Ray and Philomena sang
Of my elusive dream
I saw the streams, the rolling hills
Where his brown eyes were waiting
And I thought about a pair of brown eyes
That waited once for me
So drunk to hell I left the place
Sometimes crawling sometimes walking
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I’ll go
A rovin, a rovin, a rovin I’ll go
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I’ll go
For a pair of brown eyes
For a pair of brown eyes
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I’ll go
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I’ll go
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I’ll go
For a pair of brown eyes
For a pair of brown eyes
I was 18 when I came to town they called it the Summer of Love
Burning babies, burning flags, the hawks against the dove
I took a job at the Steaming way down on Caltrim Street
And I fell in love with a laundry girl, that was working next to me
Brown hair, zigzagged all round face, a look of half surprise
Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes
She said to me, Can’t you see I’m not the factory kind
And if you don’t take me out of here, I’ll lose my mind
Chorus
She was a rare thing, fine as a beeswing
So fine, a breath of wind might blow her away
And she was a lost child, she was running wild
She said, So long as there’s no price on love, I’ll stay
You wouldn’t want me any other way
We busked around the market towns, fruit picking down in Kent
We could tinker pots and pans or knives wherever we went
We were campin’ down the Gower, but the work was mighty good
She wouldn’t wait for the harvest and I thought we should
I said to her, We’ll settle down and get a few acres dug
With a fire burning in the heart and babies on the rug
She said, Oh man, you foolish man, that surely sounds like Hell
You might be Lord of half the world, you’ll not own me as well
But she was a rare thing, fine as a beeswing
So fine, a breath of wind might blow her away
And she was a lost child, she was running wild
She said, So long as there’s no price on love, I’ll stay
You wouldn’t want me any other way
We were drinking more in those days, our tempers reached a pitch
Like a fool, I let her run away when she took the rambling itch
And the last I heard, she is living rough back on the Derby beach
With a bottle of white horse in her pocket, a wolfhound at her feet
They say that she got married once to a man called Romany Brown
Even a gypsy caravan was too much to settling down
They say her rose has faded, rough weather and hard booze
Maybe that’s the price you pay for the chains that you refuse
Oh, she was a rare thing, fine as a beeswing
And I miss her more than ever words can say
If I could just taste all of her wildness now
If I could hold her in my arms today
I wouldn’t want her any other way
If I could hold her in my arms today
I wouldn’t want her any other way
Farewell to all our Scottish fame
Farewell our ancient glory
Farewell even to our Scottish name
Sae fam’d in martial story
Now Sark runs over the Solway sands
And Tweed runs to the ocean
To mark where England’s province stands:
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
What force or guile could not subdue
Through many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling traitor’s wages
The English steel we could disdain
Secure in valour’s station
But we’re bought and were sold
For English gold
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation
Oh would or I had seen the day
That treason last could sell us
My auld gray head had lain in clay
Wi’ Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour
I’ll make this declaration
We were bought and sold for English gold:
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation
Come all ye young rebels and list while I sing
For love of one’s country is a terrible thing
It banishes fear like the speed of a flame
And it makes you a part of the patriot’s game
My name is O’Hanlon, I’ve just gone sixteen
My home is in Monaghan and where I was weaned
I’ve been told all my life cruel England’s to blame
So I am part of the patriot’s game
It’s barely two years since I wandered away
With a local battalion of the bold IRA
I’ve read of our heroes, I’ve wanted the same
For the play up my part in the patriot’s game
This Ireland of ours has for long been half free
Six counties are under John Bull’s tyranny
And most of our leaders are greatly to blame
For shirking their part in the patriot’s game
They told me how Connolly was shot in his chair
His wounds from the battle all bleeding and bare
His fine body twisted, all tattered and lame
They soon made me part of the patriot’s game
Now I am dying, my body all holes
I think of those traitors who bargained and sold
I’m sorry my rifle has not done the same
For the Quislings who sold out the patriot game
I’ve been a wild rover for many’s the year
and I’ve spent all me money on whiskey and beer
but now I’m returning with gold in great store
and I never will play the wild rover no more
Chorus
And it’s no, nay, never
no, nay never no more
will I play the wild rover
no never no more
I went to an alehouse I used to frequent
I told the landlady my money was spent
I ask her for credit, she answered me nay
such a custom as yours I can have any day
And it’s no, nay, never
no, nay never no more
will I play the wild rover
no never no more
I brought from me pocket ten sovereigns bright
and the landlady’s eyes opened wide with delight
she said:’I have whiskeys and wines of the best
and the words that you told me were only in jest’
And it’s no, nay, never
no, nay never no more
will I play the wild rover
no never no more
I’ll go home to my parents, confess what I’ve done
and I’ll ask them to pardon their prodigal son
and when they’ve caressed me, as oft times before
I never will play the wild rover no more
And it’s no, nay, never
no, nay never no more
will I play the wild rover
no never no more
With our nets and gear we’re faring
On the wild and wasteful ocean
It’s out there on the deep we harvest and reap
Our bread
As we hunt the bonnie shoals of herring
O, it was a fine and a pleasant day
Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring
As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger
We were following the shoals of herring
Now you’re up on deck, you’re a fisherman
You can swear and show a manly bearing
Take your turn and watch with the other fellas
As you’re hunting for the shoals of herring
Now we fished the Swarth and the Broken Bank
I was cook and I’d a quarter-sharing
And I used to sleep standing on me feet
As we hunted for the shoals of herring
We left the home grounds in the month of June
And for canny Shields we soon were bearing
With a hundred cran of the silver darlings
That we’d taken from the shoals of herring
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In the stormy seas and the living gales
Just to earn your daily bread you’re faring
From the Dover Straits to the Faroe Islands
And you’re hunting for the shoals of herring
Well, I earned me keep and I paid me way
And I earned the gear that I was wearing
Sailed a million miles, caught ten million fishes
We were hunting after shoals of herring
You’re net ropeman now, boy you’re on the move
And you’re learning all about seafaring
That’s your education, scraps of navigation
As you hunt the bonnie shoals of herring
Night and day the seas we’re daring
Come wind or calm or winter gale
Sweating or cold, growing up, growing old
Or dying
As you hunt the bonnie shoals of herring
I’m a freeborn man of the travelling people
Got no fixed abode, with nomads I am numbered
Country lanes and byways were always my ways
I’ve never fancied being lumbered
Well, we knew the woods and the resting places
And the small birds sang when winter time was over
Then we’d pack our load and be on the road
They were good old times for the rover
In the open ground, you could stop and linger
For a week or two, for time was not your master
Then away you’d jog with your horse and dog
Nice and easy, no need to go faster
And sometimes we’d meet up with other people
Hear the news or else swap family information
At the country fairs we’d be meeting there
All the people of the travelling nation
I’ve made willow creels and the heather besoms
And I’ve even done some begging and some hawking
And I’ve lain there spent, wrapped up in my tent
And I’ve listened to the old folks talking
All you freeborn men of the travelling people
Every tinker, rolling stone and gypsy rover
Winds of change are blowing, old ways are going
Your travelling days will soon be over
I’m a freeborn man of the travelling people
Got no fixed abode, with nomads I am numbered
Country lanes and byways were always my ways
I’ve never fancied being lumbered
A sober black shawl hides her body entirely
Touched by the sun and the salt spray of the sea
But down in the darkness a slim hand so lovely
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me
Her petticoat simple and her feet are but bare
And all that she has is but neat and scanty
But stars in the deep of her eyes are exclaiming
I carry a rich bunch of red roses for thee
No arrogant gem sits enthroned on her forehead
Or swings from a white ear for all men to see
But jewelled desire in a bosom so pearly
Carries a rich bunch of red roses for me