Handmade Irish folk traditionals |
Songs:
Come over the hills my handsome Irish lad Come over the hills to your darling You choose the road love, and I'll make a vow That I'll be your true love forever Red is the rose that by yonder garden grows And fair is the lily of the valley Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne But my love is fairer than any Down by Killarneys green woods we did stray The moon and the stars they were shining The moon shone it's rays on his locks of golden hair And he swore he'd be my love forever Red is the rose that by yonder garden grows And fair is the lily of the valley Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne But my love is fairer than any It's not for the parting that my sister pains It's not for the grief of my mother It's all for the loss of my handsome Irish lad Now my heart is broken forever Red is the rose by yonder garden grows And fair is the lily of the valley Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne But my love is fairer than any. |
He sits at the corner of Beggar's Bush Astride of an old packing case And the dolls at the end of the plank were dancing As he groans with a smile on his face la-la-la-la Come day, go day Wish in me heart it was Sunday la-la-la-la Drinkin' buttermilk all the week And it's whiskey on a Sunday His tired old hands from a wooden beam And the puppets they danced up and down A far better show than you ever will see In the fanciest theatre in town In nineteen-o-two on a sad day he died The song it was heard no more The three dancing dolls in the dustbin were thrown And the plank went up in the backdoor On some stormy night if you're passing that way When the wind's blowing up from the sea You may still hear the song of old Seth Davy That he groans to his dancing dolls three |
The first of my journeys it is very well known I first made my way to the County Tyrone All the young men and maidens they used me well there And they called me the stranger and the rambler from Clare It was there I enlisted in the town called Fermoy But with too many masters I could not comply I deserted one morning, the truth to declare And for Limerick city steps the rambler from Clare But while a deserter myself lay concealed I was taken and brought to the town of Rathkeale And from there to headquarters I soon did repair And now the jail is the lodgings of the rambler from Clare I took off my cap and I made a low bow In the hopes that the sergeant might pardon me now But the pardon he gave me 'twas hard and severe It was, Bind him, confine him, he's the rambler from Clare It was then the United men they came on the town They attacked and they conquered with fame and renown The jail they broke open and they rescued me there And they made full commander of the rambler from Clare But now that I'm titled a United man No more can I stay in my own native land But away to Americay I must repair And must leave all the friends of the rambler from Clare So farewell to my comrades where'er you may be Likewise to my sweetheart sweet Sally Magee For the sails they're all set and the wind it blows fair He's gone, God be with him, he's the rambler from Clare |
O' Sullivan's John to the road you've gone Far away from your native home You've gone with the tinker's daughter Far along the road to roam Sullivan's John you won't stick it long Till your belly will soon get slack As you're going the road with a mighty load And a tool-box on your back I met Katy Coffee with her neat baby Behind on her back strapped on She Had an old ash plant in her hand For to drive her donkey on Enquiring at every farmer's house As along the road she passed It's Where could she find an oul pot for to mend And where could she get an ass There's a hairy ass fair in the County Clare In a place they call Spancil Hill Where me brother James got a rap of a hames And poor Paddy they tried to kill They loaded him up on a donkey and cart While Kate and big Mary looked on OH bad luck to the day that I went away To join with the tinkers band |
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. |
Lift Mac Cahir Og your face, Brooding o'er the old disgrace That black Fitzwilliam stormed your place, Drove you to the fern. Grey said victory was sure, Soon the firebrand he'd secure, Until he met at Glenmalure With Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne. See the swords at Glen Imaal They flash all over the English Pale See all the children of the Gael Beneath O'Byrne's banners. Rooster of a fighting stock Would you let a Saxon cock Crow out upon an Irish rock? Fly up and teach him manners. From Tassagart to Clonmore There flows a stream of Saxon gore. Well great is Rory Og O More At sending the loons to Hades. White is sick, Grey is fled; Now for black Fitzwilliam's head. We'll send it over dripping red To Liza and her ladies. Curse and swear, Lord Kildare. Fiach will do, what Fiach will dare. Now Fitzwilliam, have a care, Fallen is your star low. Up with halberd, up the sword, On we'll go for, by the Lord, Fiach MacHugh has given the word; Follow me up to Carlow. |
The lambs on the green hills, they sport and they play And many strawberries grow round the salt sea, How sad is my heart when my love is away How many's the ship sails the ocean. The bride and bride's party to church they did go, The bride she rode foremost, she bears the best show, But I followed after with my heart full of woe To see my love wed to another. The first place I saw her was in the church stand Gold rings on her finger and her love by the hand, Says I, my wee lassie, I will be the man Although you are wed to another. The next place I saw her was on the way home, I rode on before her, not knowing where to roam. Says I, my wee lassie, I'll be by your side Although you are wed to another. Stop, stop, says the groomsman, till I speak a word Will you venture your life on the point of my sword, For courtin' so slowly you've lost this fair maid So, be gone for you'll never enjoy her. O make now my grave, both large, wide and deep And sprinkle it over with flowers so sweet, And lay me down in it to take my last sleep, For that's the best way to forget her. |
Oh it's easy knowing the weavers when they come into town With their long yellow hair and their stockings hanging down And their aprons tied afore them and their scissors in their hands It's easy knowing the weavers for they'll never get their man Oh they'll never get their man, oh they'll never get their man It's easy knowing the weavers for they'll never get their man And it's easy knowing the doffers when they come into town With their long ragged hair and their stockings hanging down And their aprons tied afore them and their scissors in their hands It's easy knowing the doffers for they'll never get their man Oh they'll never get their man, oh they'll never get their man It's easy knowing the doffers for they'll never get their man Oh it's easy knowing the spinners when they come into town With their old ragged clothes and their weft all hanging down And their aprons tied afore them and their scissors in their hands It's easy knowing the spinners for they'll never get their man Oh they'll never get their man, oh they'll never get their man It's easy knowing the spinners for they'll never get their man And it's easy knowing the fleurers when they come into town With their long muzzled chins and their petticoats hanging down And their aprons tied afore them and their scissors in their hands It's easy knowing the fleurers for they'll always get their man Oh they'll always get their man, oh they'll always get their man It's easy knowing the fleurers for they'll always get their man |
Alas, my love, but you do me wrong To cast me off discourteously For I have loved you so long Delighting in your company Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight Greensleeves was my heart of gold And who but my Lady Greensleeves I have been ready at your hand To grant whatever you would crave I have both waged life and land Your love and goodwill for to have Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight Greensleeves was my heart of gold And who but my lady Greensleeves. Your vows you've broken, like my heart, Oh, why did you so enrapture me? Now I remain in a world apart But my heart remains in captivity. Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, And who but my lady Greensleeves. If you intend thus to disdain, It does the more enrapture me, And even so, I still remain A lover in captivity. Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, And who but my lady Greensleeves. |
It fell out upon one Martinmas time When snow lay on the border There came a troop of soldiers here To take up their winter quarters And they road south and they rode north And they rode o'er the border And there they met with a nice little girl She was a farmer's daughter Well, they made her swear a solemn oath A salt tear in her eye That she would come to the quarter gates But no one did her spy But she's gone to the barber's shop To the barber's shop went soon She made them cut her long, yellow hair As short as any dragoon And she's gone to the tailor's shop And dressed in soldier's clothes Two long pistols down by her side A nice, little boy was she And she's gone to the quarter gates And loudly she does call There comes a troop of soldiers here We must have lodgings all" And the quartermaster, he comes down He gives her half a crown "Go find your lodgings in the town Tonight there is no room" So she moved closer to the gates loudest she does call "Room, room, you gentlemen You must have lodgings all" And the quartermaster, he comes down He gives her eighteen pence "Go find your lodgings in the town Tonight'll come a wench" So she took a pistol from her side She blew it loud and shrill The longer you plea with your eighty pence You'll not get a girl at all" And she took the garter from her knee The ribbon from her hair She tied them 'round the quarter gates A token she'd been there And when they found that it was her They tried to have her taken She slapped her spurs to her horse's side She galloped home a maiden |
The water is wide, I can't cross o'er Neither have I wings to fly Give me a boat that can carry two And both shall row, my love and I A ship there is and she sails the sea She's loaded deep as deep can be But not as deep as the love I'm in I know not if I sink or swim I leaned my back against an oak Thinking it was a mighty tree But first it bent and then it broke So did my love prove false to me I reached my finger into some soft bush Thinking the fairest flower to find I pricked my finger to the bone And left the fairest flower behind Oh love be handsome and love be kind A sparkling jewel when first it is new But love grows old and waxes cold And fades away like the morning dew Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a man who won't love me Must I be born with so little art As to love a man who'll break my heart When cockle shells turn silver bells Then will my love come back to me When roses bloom in winter's gloom Then will my love return to me |
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've wandered north and I've wandered south through Stoneybatter and Patrick's Close Up and around by the Gloucester Diamond Round by Napper Tandy's house Old age had laid her hand on me Cold as fire of ashey coalsv But were is the lovely Spanish Lady, neat and sweet about the soul. |