Slàinte

On The One Road

We're on the one road

Sharing the one load

We're on the road to God knows where

We're on the one road

it may be the wrong road

But we're together now who cares

North men, South men, comrades all

Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Donegal

We're on the one road swinging along

Singing 'The Soldiers Song'

 

Though we've had our troubles now and then

Now it's time to make them up again

Sure aren't we all Irish anyhow

Now is the time to step together now

 

Tinker, tailor every mother's son

Butcher, baker, shouldering his gun

Rich man, poor man every man in line

All together just like 'Auld Lang Syne'

 

Night is darkness just before the dawn

From dissention Ireland is reborn

Soon we'll all united Irishmen

Make our land 'A Nation Once Again'

 

The Spanish Lady

As I came down through Dublin City 


At the hour of twelve at night 


Who should I see but the Spanish lady

Washing her feet by candlelight 


First she washed them, then she dried them 


Over a fire of amber coal 


In all my life I ne'er did see 


A maid so sweet about the sole

Whack for the toora loora laddy 


Whack for the toora loora lay 


Whack for the toora loora laddy 


Whack for the toora loora lay

 

As I came back through Dublin City 


At the hour of half past eight 


Who should I spy but the Spanish lady 


Brushing her hair in the broad daylight 


First she tossed it, then she brushed it 


On her lap was a silver comb 


In all my life I ne'er did see 


A maid so fair since I did roam

 

As I went back through Dublin City 


As the sun began to set 


Who should I spy but the Spanish lady 


Catching a moth in a golden net 


When she saw me, then she fled me 


Lifting her petticoat over her knee 


In all my life I ne'er did see 


A maid so shy as the Spanish lady.

 

I'll tell me ma

I'll tell my ma when I go home

The boys won't leave the girls alone

They pulled my hair, they stole my comb

But that's all right till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty

She is the bell of Belfast city

She is counting one, two, three

Please won't you tell me who is she.

 

Albert Mooney says he loves her

All the boys are fighting for her

They knock at the door and they ring at the bell

Sayin' "Oh my true love, are you well?"

Out she comes as white as snow

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

Old John Murray says she'll die

If she doesn't get the fellow with the roving eye.

 

Let the wind and rain and the hail blow high

And the snow come tumblin' from the sky

She's as nice as apple pie

She'll get her own lad by and by.

When she gets a lad of her own

She won't tell her ma when she goes home

Let them all come as they will

For it's Albert Mooney she loves still.

 

Lord Of The Dance

I danced in the morning
When the world was young


I danced to the moon,
To the stars and the sun


I came down from Heaven
And I danced on Earth


At Bethlehem I had my birth



 

Dance, dance, wherever you may be


I am the Lord of the Dance, said he


And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be


And I'll lead you all in the dance, said He



 

I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee


If they would not dance;
They would not follow me


So I danced for the fisherman, James and John


They came with me,
So the dance went on

#

 

I danced on the Sabbath
And I cured the lame


They holy people said it was a shame


So they whipped, they stripped,
They hung me high


They left me there on the cross to die



 

I danced on a Friday,
When the sky turned black


Its hard to dance
With the Devil on your back


They buried my body,
They thought I was gone


But I am the dance
And the dance goes on



 

They cut me down, but I leapt on high


I am the light that will never, never die


But I'll live in you if you'll live in Me


I am the Lord of the Dance, said he

 

Dicey Reilly

Oh poor old Dicey Reilly she has taken to the sup. 


Oh poor old Dicey Reilly she will never give it up. 


For it`s off each morning to the pop, 


And then she`s in for another little drop, 


For the heart of the rowl is Dicey Reilly. 



 

Oh she walks along Fitzgibbon street with an independent air, 


And then it`s down be Summerhill and as the people stare 


She says it`s nearly half past one,

and it`s time I had another little one 


Ah the heart of the rowl is Dicey Reilly 



 

Long years ago when men were men and fancied May Oblong 


Or lovely Beckie Cooper or Maggie`s Mary Wong, 


One woman put them all to shame, just one was worthy of the name, 


And the name of the dame was Dicey Reilly





Oh but time went catching up on her like many pretty whores, 


And it`s after you along the street before you`re out the door, 


The balance weighed and they looks all fade,

but out of all that great brigade, 


Still the heart of the rowl is Dicey Reilly

 

Bog Down in the Valley

O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o


O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o

 

And in that bog there was a tree, a rare tree, a rattlin' tree


With the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

 

Now on that tree there was a limb, a rare limb, a rattlin' limb


With the limb on the tree and the tree in the bog


And the bog down in the valley-o.

Now on that limb there was a branch, a rare branch, a rattlin' branch


With the branch on the limb and the limb on the tree and the tree in the bog


And the bog down in the valley-o.

 

Now on that branch there was a twig, a rare twig, a rattlin' twig.....

Now on that twig there was a nest, a rare nest, a rattlin' nest.....

Now in that nest there was an egg , a rare egg, a rattlin' egg.....

Now in that egg there was a bird, a rare bird, a rattlin' bird.....

Now on that bird there was a feather, a rare feather, a rattlin' feather .....

Now on that feather there was a flea, a rare flea, a rattlin' flea .....

 

Farewell to Carlingford

When I was young and in my prime


And could wander wild and free


There was always a longing in my mind
To follow the call of the sea 



 

So I'll sing farewell to Carlingford and farewell to Greenore


And I'll think of you both day and night


Till I return once more, till I return once more 



 

On all of the stormy seven seas


I have sailed before the mast


And on every voyage I ever made


I swore it would be my last



 

Now, I had a girl called Mary Doyle


And she lived in Greenore


And the foremost thought that was in her mind


Was to keep me safe on shore.

 

Now, the landsman's life is all his own


He can go or he can stay


But when the sea gets in your blood


When she calls you must obey 


 

Maids when you're young

Well an old man came courting me, hey dingdoorum dall

An old man came courting me, me being young

An old man came courting me, fame would he marry me

Maids when you're young, never wed an old man

 

Because he's got no faloorum faliddel y yoorum

He's got no faloorum faliddel al de

He's got no faloorum he's lost his dingdoorum

Maids, when you're young, never wed an old man

 

When we went to church, he dingdoorum dall

When we went to church, me being young

When we went to church, he left me in the lurch

Maids, when you're young, never wed an old man

 

When we went to bed, he dingdoorum dall

When we went to bed, me being young

When we went to bed, he lay like he was dead

Maids when you're young, never wed an old man

 

So I throw me leg over him, he dingdoorum dall

I flung me leg over him, me being young

I throw me leg over him; damn well I near smothered him

Maids when you're young, never wed an old man

 

When he went to sleep he dingdoorum dall

When he went to sleep, me being young

When he went to sleep, out of bed I did creep

Into the arms of a handsome young man

 

And I found his faloorum faliddel y yoorum

I found his faloorum faliddel al de

I found his faloorum he got my dingdoorum

So maids, when you're young, never wed an old man

 

With me wack fol the do fol the diddle idle day

As I went down to Galway Town to seek for recreation

On the seventeenth of August, me mind being elevated

There were passengers assembled with their tickets at the station

And me eyes began to dazzle and they off to see the races

With me wack fol the do fol the diddle idle day

 

There were passengers from Limerick and passengers from Nenagh

The boys of Connemara  and the Clare unmarried maiden

There were people from Cork City who were loyal, true and faithful

Who brought home the Fenian prisoners from dying in foreign nations

With me wack fol the do fol the diddle idle day

 

And it's there you'll see the pipers and the fiddlers competing

And the sporting wheel of fortune and the four and twenty quarters

And there's others without scruple pelting wattles at poor Maggie

And her father well contented and he gazing at his daughter

 

It's a long way to Tipperary

Up to mighty London

Came an Irishman one day.

As the streets are paved with gold

Sure, everyone was gay,

Singing songs of Piccadilly

Strand and Leicester Square

Till Paddy got excited,

Then he shouted to them there:

 

It's a long way to Tipperary,

It's a long way to go.

It's a long way to Tipperary

To the sweetest girl I know!

Goodbye, Piccadilly,

Farewell, Leicester Square!

It's a long long way to Tipperary,

But my heart's right there.

 

Paddy wrote a letter

To his Irish Molly-O,

Saying, "Should you not receive it,

Write and let me know!"

"If I make mistakes in spelling,

Molly, dear," said he,

"Remember, it's the pen that's bad,

Don't lay the blame on me!

 

Molly wrote a neat reply

To Irish Paddy-O,

Saying Mike Maloney

Wants to marry me, and so

Leave the Strand and Piccadilly

Or you'll be to blame,

For love has fairly drove me silly:

Hoping you're the same!

 

Dirty old town

I found my love by the gasworks croft

Dreamed a dream by the old canal

Kissed my girl by the factory wall

Dirty old town, dirty old town.

 

Clouds are drifting across the moon

Cats are prowling on their beat

Spring's a girl in the street at night

Dirty old town, dirty old town.

 

I heard a siren from the docks

Saw a train set the night on fire

Smelled the spring in the smokey wind

Dirty old town, dirty old town.

 

I'm going to make a good sharp axe

Shining steel tempered in the fire

We'll chop you down like an old dead tree

Dirty old town, dirty old town.

 

From Clare to here

It's a long way from Clare to here

It's a long way from Clare to here

It's a long, long way, it grows further by the day

It's a long way from Clare to here

 

When Friday comes around Terry's only into fighting

My ma would like a letter home but I'm too tired for writing

 

It almost breaks my heart when I think of Josephine

I told her I'd be coming home with my pockets full of green

 

And the only time I feel alright is when I'm into drinking

It sort of eases the pain of it and levels out my thinking

 

I sometimes hear a fiddle play or maybe it's a notion

I dream I see white horses dance upon that other ocean.

 

All For Me Grog

And it's all for me grog, me jolly, jolly grog 

All for me beer and tobacco 

Well I spent all me tin on the lassies drinking gin 

Across the western ocean I must wander 

 

Where are me boots, me noggin, noggin boots 

they're all gone for beer and tobacco 

For the heels they are worn out and the toes are kicked about 

And the soles are looking for better weather 

 

Where is me shirt me noggin, noggin shirt 

It's all gone for beer and tobacco 

For the collar is all worn and the sleeves they are all torn 

And the tail is looking for better weather 

 

I'm sick in the head and I haven't gone to bed 

Since I first came ashore from me slumber 

For I spent all me dough on the lassies don't you know 

Far across the western ocean I must wander 

The wild rover

I've been a wild rover for many a year

And I spent all my money on whiskey and beer,

And now I'm returning with gold in great store

And 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.

 

I went to an ale-house I used to frequent

And I told the landlady my money was spent.

I asked her for credit, she answered me "nay

Such a custom as yours I could have any day."

 

I took from my pocket ten sovereigns bright

And the landlady's eyes opened wide with delight.

She said "I have whiskey and wines of the best

And the words that I spoke sure were only in jest."

 

I'll go home to my parents, confess what I've done

And I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son.

And if they caress (forgive) me as ofttimes before

Sure I never will play the wild rover no more.

Whiskey in the jar

As I was a-walkin' 'round Kilgary Mountain

I met with Captain Pepper as his money he was countin'

I rattled my pistols and I drew forth my saber

Sayin', "Stand and deliver, for I am the bold deceiver."

Musha rig um du rum da

Whack fol the daddy o

Whack fol the daddy o

There's whiskey in the jar.

 

The shinin' golden coins did look so bright and jolly

I took 'em with me home and I gave 'em to my Molly

She promised and she vowed that she never would deceive me

But the devil's in the women and they never can be easy.

 

When I was awakened between six and seven

The guards were all around me in numbers odd and even

I flew to my pistols, but alas I was mistaken

For Molly's drawn my pistols and a prisoner I was taken.

 

They put me into jail without judge or writin'

For robbing Colonel Pepper on Kilgary Mountain

But they didn't take my fists so I knocked the sentry down

And bid a fond farewell to the jail in Sligo town.

 

Now some take delight in fishin' and in bowlin'

And others take delight in carriages a-rollin'

But I take delight in the juice of the barley

And courtin' pretty girls in the morning so early 

 

Star of the County Down

Near to Banbridge town, in the County Down

One morning in July

Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen

And she smiled as she passed me by.

She looked so sweet from her two white feet

To the sheen of her nut-brown hair

Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself

To make sure I was standing there.

 

From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay

And from Galway to Dublin town

No maid I've seen like the sweet colleen

That I met in the County Down.

 

As she onward sped I shook my head

And I gazed with a feeling rare

And I said, says I, to a passerby

"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?"

He smiled at me, and with pride says he,

"That's the gem of Ireland's crown.

She's young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann

She's the star of the County Down."

 

At the crossroads fair I'll be surely there

And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes

And I'll try sheep's eyes, and deludhering lies

On the heart of the nut-brown rose.

No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke

Though with rust my plow turns brown

Till a smiling bride by my own fireside

Sits the star of the County Down.

 

God Save Ireland

God save Ireland, said the heroes

God save Ireland, said they all

Whether on the scaffold high

Or the battlefield we die

Oh what matter when for Erin dear we fall?

 

High upon the gallows tree

Swung the noble hearted three

By the vengeful tyrant stricken in their bloom

But they met him face to face

With the courage of their race

And they went with souls undaunted to their doom

 

When they're up the rugged stair

Rang their voices out in prayer

Then with England's fatal cord around them cast

Close beside the gallows tree

Kissed like brothers lovingly

True to home and faith and freedom to the last

 

Never till the latest day

Shall the memory pass away?

Oh, the gallant lives thus given for our land

But on the cause must go

Amid joy and weal and woe

Till we make our Isle a nation free and grand

 

Cockles and mussels

In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone

As she wheeled her wheel-barrow

Through streets broad and narrow

Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

Alive, alive-O! alive, alive-O!

Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

 

She was a fish-monger, but sure 'twas no wonder

For so were her father and mother before

And they each wheeled their barrow

Through streets broad and narrow

Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

Alive, alive-O! alive, alive-O!

Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

 

She died of a fever, and no one could save her

And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone

But her ghost wheels her barrow

Through streets broad and narrow

Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

Alive, alive-O! alive, alive-O!

Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!

 

Away Sandy

As I strolled down O'Connell Street, the day being warm and grand


I met a maid, she asked me trade, "I'm a singer in a band."


Away Sandy, my dear Annie


Oh ye country girls, can you dance the polka

 

I took her to McDonald's, sure I didn't mind expense
I

bought her chips and coffee; it only cost me eighty pence
A

 

I asked her out to Sandycove, we traveled out by Dart


Please say you'll go, if you say no, you'll surely break me heart


 

When we arrived at Sandycove we strolled along the Strand


She told me of her folks back home, as we walked hand in hand

 

I asked her occupation and when questioned, seemed afraid


She looked at me, "Me ramblin' man, I am a Chamber Maid"


 

With me hand upon her shoulder and the other one on her knee


Me boys me thinks with a few more drinks, with me she might agree


 

When we arrived in by Rathmines Road, we came to her front door


She said, "Farewell me ramblin' boy, you'll never see me no more"


 

I caught the bus to Dublin saying, "Fair dues to you me dear"


No more I'll chase the country girls, I'll stick to Lager Beer


 

Seven Drunken Nights

As I went home on Monday night as drunk as drunk could be 

I saw a horse outside the door where my old horse should be 

Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me 

Who owns that horse outside the door where my old horse should be? 

 

Ah, you're drunk, 

you're drunk you silly old fool, 

still you can not see 

That's a lovely sow that me mother sent to me 

Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more 

But a saddle on a sow sure I never saw before 

 

And as I went home on Tuesday night as drunk as drunk could be 

I saw a coat behind the door where my old coat should be 

Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me 

Who owns that coat behind the door where my old coat should be 

 

Ah, you're drunk, 

you're drunk you silly old fool, 

still you can not see 

That's a woollen blanket that me mother sent to me 

Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more 

But buttons in a blanket sure I never saw before 

 

And as I went home on Wednesday night as drunk as drunk could be 

I saw a pipe up on the chair where my old pipe should be 

Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me 

Who owns that pipe up on the chair where my old pipe should be 

 

Ah, you're drunk, 

you're drunk you silly old fool, 

still you can not see 

That's a lovely tin whistle that me mother sent to me 

Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more 

But tobacco in a tin whistle sure I never saw before 

 

And as I went home on Thursday night as drunk as drunk could be 

I saw two boots beneath the bed where my old boots should be 

Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me 

Who owns them boots beneath the bed where my old boots should be 

 

Ah, you're drunk, 

you're drunk you silly old fool, 

still you can not see 

They're two lovely Geranium pots me mother sent to me 

Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more 

But laces in Geranium pots I never saw before 

 

And as I went home on Friday night as drunk as drunk could be 

I saw a head upon the bed where my old head should be 

Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me 

Who owns that head upon the bed where my old head should be 

 

Ah, you're drunk, 

you're drunk you silly old fool, 

still you can not see 

That's a baby boy that me mother sent to me 

Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more 

But a baby boy with his whiskers on sure I never saw before 

 

And as I went home on Saturday night as drunk as drunk could be 

I saw two hands upon her breasts where my old hands should be 

Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me 

Who owns them hands upon your breasts where my old hands should be 

 

Ah, you're drunk, 

you're drunk you silly old fool, 

still you can not see 

That's a lovely night gown that me mother sent to me 

Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more 

But fingers in a night gown sure I never saw before 

 

As I went home on Sunday night as drunk as drunk could be 

I saw a thing in her thing where my old thing should be 

Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me 

Who owns that thing in your thing where my old thing should be 

 

Ah, you're drunk, 

you're drunk you silly old fool, 

still you can not see 

That's a lovely tin whistle that me mother sent to me 

Well, it's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more 

But hair on a tin whistle sure I never saw before

 

Mairie's wedding

Step we gaily, on we go

Heel for heel and toe for toe,

Arm in arm and row on row

All for Mairi's wedding.

 

Over hillways up and down

Myrtle green and bracken brown,

Past the sheilings through the town

All for sake of Mairi.

 

Red her cheeks as rowans are

Bright her eyes as any star,

Fairest o' them all by far

Is our darlin' Mairi.

 

Plenty herring, plenty meal

Plenty peat to fill her creel,

Plenty bonny bairns as weel

That's the toast for Mairi.

 

A Nation Once Again

When boyhood's fire was in my blood

I read of ancient freemen

Of Greece and Rome who bravely stood

Three hundred men and three men

And then I prayed I yet might see

Our fetters rent in twain

And Ireland long a province be a nation once again

A nation once again, A nation once again

And Ireland long a province be a nation once again

 

And from that time through wildest woe

That hope has shown a far light

Nor could love's brightest summer glow

Outshine that solemn starlight

It seem to watch abov' my head

Through foreign fields and fame

Its angel voice sang 'round my bed, A nation once again

A nation once again, A nation once again

And Ireland long a province be a nation once again

 

So as I grew from boy to man

I bent me to my bidding

My spirit of each selfish plan

And cruel passion ridding

For thus I hope some day to wake

Nor can such hope be vain

When my dear country shall be made A nation once again

A nation once again A nation once again

And Ireland long a province be a nation once again