SKIBBEREEN
Oh,
father dear, I oft-times hear your talk of Erin's Isle.
Her lofty scene and valley green, her mountains rude
and wild.
Thery say it is a pretty place wherein a prince might
dwell
Then why did you abandon it? The reason to me tell.
My son, I loved our native land with energy and pride,
Until a blight came o'er my crops, my sheep and cattle
died.
The rent and taxes were to pay, I could not them redeem,
And that's the cruel reason why I left old Skibbereen.
It's well I do remember that bleak December day,
The landlord and the sheriff came to drive us all away,
They set my roof on fire with their cursed English spleen,
And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen.
Your mother too, God rest her soul fell on the snowy
ground
She fainted in her anguish seeing the desolation all
around
She never rose but passed away to life's imortal dream
And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen
And
you were only two years old and feeble was your frame
I could not leave you with my friends, you bore your
father's name
I wrapped you in my cóta mór in the
dead of night unseen
I heaved a sigh and said goodbye to dear old Skibbereen
Oh, father dear, the day will come when vengeance
loud will call.
When Irish men for freedome's sake, will rally one
and all,
I'll be the man to lead the van beneath our flag of
green,
And loud and high we'll raise the cry: 'Revenge for
Skibbereen!'
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
WEARING OF THE GREEN
Oh Paddy dear and did you hear the news that's going
round?
The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground
No more St. Patrick's Day we'll keep, his colours can't
be seen
For there's a cruel law against the wearing of the green
I met with Nappertandy and he took me by the hand
And he said `How's poor old Ireland, and how does she
stand?'
She's the most distressful country that ever yet was
seen
They're hanging men and women for the wearing of the
green
And if the colour we must wear is England's cruel red
Let it remind us of the blood that Ireland has shed
Then take the shamrock from your hat and cast it on
the sod
And never fear,'twill take root there, tho' underfoot
'tis trod
When laws can stop the blades of grass from growing
as they grow
And when the leaves in summertime, their colour dare
not show
Then I will change the colour that I wear in my caubeen
But `till that day, please God I'll stay a-wearing of
the green
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
THE
STAR OF 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
Oh she looked so neat from her two white feet to the
sheen of her nut-brown hair
Sure the coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself, to make sure
I was standing there
CHORUS
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 County Down
As she onward sped I shook my head and I gazed with
a feeling quare
And I said, says I to a passer-by who's the maid with
the nut-brown hair?
Oh he smiled at me, and with pride says he: That's the
gem of Irelands crown
She's young Rosie McCann, from the banks of the Bann,
She's the star of the county Down
Chorus
She'd a soft brown eye and a look so sly and a smile
like the rose in June
And you hung on each note from her lily-white throat,
as she lilted and Irish tune
At the pattern dance you were held in trance as she
tripped through a four hand reel
When her eyes she'd roll, she did coax my soul and my
heart she did softly steal
Chorus
At the harvest fair she'll be surely there and I'll
dress in my Sunday clothes
And I'll boldly play for to win my way to the heart
of the nut-brown Rose
No pipe I smoke, no horse I'll yoke though my plough
with rust turns brown
'Till a smiling bride by my own fireside sits the star
of the County Down.
Chorus
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
THE HARP THAT ONCE THROUGH TARA'S HALLS
The harp that once thro' Tara's Hall the soul of music
shed.
Now hangs as mute on Tara's wall as if that soul were
fled.
So sleeps the pride of former days so glory's thrill
is o'er.
And hearts that once beat high for praise now feel
that pulse no more
No more to chiefs and ladies bright, the harp of Tara
swells
The chord alone, that breaks at night, it's tale of
ruin tells
This freedom now so seldom wakes, the only throb she
gives
Is when some heart indignant breaks, to show that
still she lives
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
TEDDY O'NEALE
I've come to the cabin he danced his wild jigs in
As neat a mud palace as ever was seen
And considering it served to keep poultry and pigs in
I'm sure it was always most elegant and clean
But now all about it seems lonely and dreary
All sad and all silent, no piper, no reel
Not even the sun thro' the casement is cheery
Since I miss the dear darling boy, Teddy O'Neale
I dreamt but last night Oh ! bad luck to my dreaming
I'd die if I thought 'twould come surely to pass
But I dreamt while the tears down my pillow were streaming
That Teddy was courtin' another fair lass
Och ! did not I wake with a weeping and wailing
The grief of that thought was too deep to conceal
My mother cried, "Norah, child what is your ailing?"
And all I could answer was "Teddy O'Neale"
Shall I ever forget when the big ship was ready
The moment had come when my love must depart
How I sobb'd like a spalpeen, "Good-bye to you, Teddy"
With drops on my cheeks and a stone at my heart
He says it's to better his fortune he's roving
But what would be gold to the joy I would feel
I saw him come back to me honest and loving
Still poor, but my own darling, Teddy O'Neale
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
NORA
The voilets were scenting the woods, Nora
Displaying their charms to the bee
When I first said I loved only you, Nora
And you said you loved only me.
The chestnut blooms gleamed through the glade, Nora
A robin sang loud from a tree
When I first said I loved only you, Nora
And you said you loved only me
The golden-robed daffodils shone, Nora
And danced in the breeze on the lea
When I first said I loved only you, Nora
And you said you loved only me
The trees, birds and bees sang a song, Nora
Of happier transports to be
When I first said I loved only you, Nora
And you said you loved only me
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
THE
MOON BEHIND THE HILL
I watched last night the rising moon
Upon a foreign strand
Till mem'ries came like flowers of June
Of home and fatherland
I dreamt I was a child once more
Beside the rippling rill
When first I saw, in days of yore
The moon behind the hill
It brought me back the visions grand
That purpled boyhood's dreams
It's youthful loves, its happy land
As bright as morning beams
It brought me back my own sweet Nore
The castle and the mill
Until my eyes could see no more
The moon behind the hill
It brought me back a mother's love
Until, in accents wild
I prayed her from her home above
To guard her lonely child
It brought me one across the wave
To live in mem'ry still
It brought me back my Kathleen's grave
The moon behind the hill
And there, beneath the silv'ry sky
I lived life o'er again
I counted all its hopes gone by
I wept at all its pain
And when I'm gone, o! may some tongue
The minstrel's wish fulfil
And still remember him who sang
"The moon behind the Hill."
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
MAYO
ROSALEEN
Copyright (Keating - KT
Music)
Used by permission
Strolling round the Westport fair
Early in the fore-noon
There I spied a maiden fair
Rosaleen of Killadoon
Men ye sing of girls from Clare
A flower here, a rose from there
The fairest rose that e're has been
My own dear Mayou Rosaleen
E're the evening closed the day
I asked to see her father
The sinking sun was on Clew Bay
I vowed I'd wed no other
He told me I might dare to hope
If I could win the heart of
the fairest rose that e're has been
My own dear Mayo Rosaleen
So I won then lost her
to the arms of death's deep slumber
Rosaleen I'm lonely now
And so the days I number.
Men ye sing of girls from Clare
A flower here, a rose from there
The fairest rose that e're has been
My own dear Mayo Rosaleen
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
LEAVING
OF LIVERPOOL
Farewell to Princes' landing stage
River Mersey fare thee well
I am bound for Californiay
A place I know right well
CHORUS
So fare thee well, my own true love
When I return united we will be
Its not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me
But my darling when I think of thee
I have shipped on a Yankee sailing ship
Davy Crockett is her name
And Burgess is the captain of her
And they say that she's a floating shame
Chorus
Oh the sun is on the harbour love,
And I wish I could remain
For I know it will be a long, long time
Before I see you again
Chorus
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
EASY AND SLOW
'Twas down by Christchurch that I first met with Annie
A neat little girl and not a bit shy
She told me her father, who came from Dungannon
Would take her back home in the sweet by and by
CHORUS
And what's it to any man whether or no
Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
As I lifted her petticoat easy and slow
And I tied up my sleeve for to buckle her shoe
Chorus
All
along Thomas Street down to the Liffey
The sunshine was gone and the evening grew dark
Along by Kingsbridge and beggor in a jiffy
Me arms were around her beyond in the Park
Chorus
From city or county, a girl is a jewel
And well made for gripping the most of them are
But any young man is really a fool
If he tries at the first time to go a bit far
Chorus
Now if you should go to the town of Dungannon
You can search `till your eyes are weary or blind.
Be you lyin' or walkin' or sittin' or runnin'
A girl like Annie, you never will find
Chorus
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
THE CLIFFS OF DOONEEN
You may travel far, far from your own native home,
Far away o'er the mountains, far away o'er the foam.
But of all the fine places that I've ever been,
Oh , there is none can compare with the cliffs of Dooneen.
It's a nice place to be on a fine summer's day,
Watching all the wild flowers that ne'er do decay,
Oh, the hare and the pheasant are plain to be seen,
Making homes for their young round the cliffs of Dooneen.
Take a view o'er the mountains, fine sights you'll see
there.
You'll see the high rocky mountains on the west coast
of Clare,
Oh, the towns of Kilkee and Kilrush can be seen,
From the high rocky slopes round the cliffs of Dooneen.
Fare thee well to Dooneen, fare thee well for a while,
And although we are parted by the raging sea wild,
Once again I will wander with my Irish colleen,
Round the high rocky slopes of the Cliffs of Dooneen.
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
DANNY BOY
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,
From glen to glen and down the mountainside.
The summer's gone and all the roses falling,
'Tis you, 'tis you, must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow.
'Tis I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy I love you so.
And when you come and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
You'll come and find a place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Ave there for me.
And I shall hear though soft your tread above me,
And all my grave shall warmer, sweeter be,
And you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I shall live in peace until you come to me.
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
COME BACK PADDY REILLY
The Garden of Eden has vanished they say
But I know the lie of it still
Just turn to the left at the bridge of Finea
And stop when half way to Coote Hill
'Tis there I will find it I know sure enough
When fortune has come to my call
Oh, the grass it is green around Ballyjamesduff
And the blue sky is over it all
And tones that are tender and tones that are gruff
Are whispering over the sea
Come back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff.
Come home Paddy Reilly to me
My mother once told me that when I was born
The day that I first saw the light
I looked down the street on that very first morn
And gave a great crow of delight
Now most new-born babies appear in a huff
And start with a sorrowful squall
But I know I was born in Ballyjamesduff
And that's why I smile on them all
The baby's a man now, he's toil-worn and tough
Still, whispers come over the sea
Come back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home Paddy Reilly to me
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
CARRICKFERGUS
I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygran
I would swim over the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygran.
But the sea is wide and I can not swim over
Nor have I the wings to fly.
If I could find me a handsome boatsman
To ferry me over to my love and die
My childhood days bring sad reflections
Of happy times spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all passed on now, like the melting snow
So I'll spend my days now, in endless roving
Soft is the grass; my bed is free.
Ah, to be back now in Carrickfergus
On that long road down to the sea
Now in Kilkenny, it is reported
There are marble stones as black as ink
With Gold and silver I would transport her
But I'll sing no more now till I get a drink
I'm drunk today, but I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Ah, but I'm sick now, my days are over
Come all ye young lads, and lay me down
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
BUNCH OF THYME
Come all you maidens young and fair
All you that are blooming in your prime
Always beware, to your garden fair
Let no man steal away your thyme
For thyme it is a precious thing
And thyme brings all things to my mind,
Thyme with all its flavours, along with all its joys
Thyme brings all things to mind.
Once I had a bunch of thyme
I thought it never would decay
Then came a lusty sailor who chanced to pass my way
And stole my bunch of thyme away
The sailor gave to me a rose
A rose that never would decay
He gave it to me to keep me reminded
Of when he stole my thyme away.
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
BUNCLODY
Oh, were I at the Moss House where the birds do increase,
At the foot of Mount Leinster or some silent place,
By the streams of Bunclody where all pleasures do meet,
And all I would ask is one kiss from you sweet.
If I was in Bunclody I would think myself at home,
'Tis there I would have a sweetheart, but here I have
none.
Drinking strong liqour in the height of my cheer,
Here's a health to Bunclody and the lass I love dear.
If I was a clerk and could write a good hand,
I would write my love a letter that she might understand,
For I am a young fellow that is wounded in love,
Once I lived in Bunclody but now must remove.
If I was a lark and had wings I could fly,
I would go to yon arbour where my love she does lie,
I'd proceed to you arbour where my true love does lie,
And on her fond bosom contented I would die.
'Tis why my love slights me as you may understand,
That she has a freehold and I have no land,
She has great store of riches and a large sum of gold,
And everything fitting a house to uphold.
So adieu my dear father, adieu my dear mother,
Farewell to my sister, farwell to my brother;
I am bound for America, my fortune to try,
When I think of Bunclody, I'm ready to die.
Mystical Ireland - Mist
OFT
IN THE STILLY NIGHT
CHORUS
Oft, in the stilly night
Ere slumber's chain has bound me
Fond memory brings the ligh
Of other days around me
The smiles, the tears of boyhood years
The words of love then spoken
The eyes that shone, now dimm'd and gone
The cheerful hearts now broken
Chorus
Thus in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain hath bound me
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me
When I remember all
The friends, so linked together
I've seen around me fall
Like leaves in wintry weather
I feel like one, who treads alone
Some banquet hall deserted
Whose lights are fled, whose garlands dead
And all but he departed
Chorus
Mystical Ireland
- Mist
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