The Dubliners

Chorus:
Well it's lonesome away from your kindred and all
By the camp fire at night,
Where the wild dingos call.
But there's nothin' so lonesome
morbid or drear,
than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer.

Now the publican's anxious for the quota to come
and there's a far away look on the face of the bum
the maids got all cranky and
and the cooks acting queer
what a terrible place, is a pub with no beer.

Then the stockman rides up with his dry dusty throat
He presses up to the bar and pulls a wad from his coat.
But the smile on his face quickly turns to a snear
As the barman says sadly,
"The pubs got no beer."

Then the swaggy comes in smoothered in dust and flies
He throws down his roll and rubs the sweat from his eyes
But when he is told he says "what's this I hear"
I've trudged fifty flamin' miles
To a pub with no beer

Now there's a dog on the veranda for his master he waits
But the boss is inside drinkin' wine with his mates.
He hurries for cover and he cringes with fear
It's no place for a dog,
Round a pub with no beer.

And old Billie the Blacksmith, the first time in his life
Why he's gone home cold sober to his darling wife
He walks in the kitchen she says your early Bill dear
But then he breaks down and he tells her
The pub's got no beer.

Well its hard to believe that there's customers still
But the money's still tinkling in the old ancient til
The wine dots are happy and I know they're sincere
When they say they don't care if the pubs got no beer

So it's a lonesome away from your kindred and all
By the camp fire at night,
Where the wild dingos call.
But there's nothin' so lonesome
morbid or drear,
than to stand in the bar of that pub with no beer.

In a neat little town they called Belfast
Apprentice to trade I was bound
And many an hour sweet happiness
Have I spent in that neat little town
As sad misfortune came over me
Which caused me to stray from the land
Far away from me friends and relations
Betrayed by the black velvet band

Her eyes they shown like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair, it hung over her shoulder
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
Come a-traipsing along the highway
She was both fair and handsome
Her neck, it was just like a swan
And her hair, it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

Her eyes they shown like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair, it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

I took a stroll with this pretty fair maid
And a 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 that I said, was
Bad 'cess to the black velvet band

Her eyes they shown like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair, it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

Before the judge and the jury
Next morning, I had to appear
The judge, he says to me:
"Young man, you're case it 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 relations
Betrayed by the black velvet band"

Her eyes they shown like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair, it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

So come all you jolly young fellows
A warning take by me
When you are out on the town, me lads
Beware of the pretty colleens
They'll feed you with strong drink, me lads
'Till you are unable to stand
And the very first thing that you'll know is
You've landed in Van Diemens Land

Her eyes they shown like diamonds
Her neck, it was just like a swan
And her hair, it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
The deepest ocean, my love to find
But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
If I could find me a handsome boatman
To ferry me over my love and I
My childhood days bring back sweet reflections
The happy times I spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and kind relations
Have all past on now like melting snow
I'll spend my da - ys an endless rover
Soft is the grass and sure, my bed is free
Oh but to be back, in carrickfergus
To strike that lonely road, down by the sea
And in kilkenny it is reported
On marble stone there as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her
But I'll sing no more now til I get a drink
For I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Ah but I'm sick now my days are numbered
Come all ye young men and lay me down

Dominic Behan

[Chorus:]
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

[Chorus]

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

[Chorus]

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

[Chorus]

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

[Chorus]

Dominic Behan

[Chorus:]
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

[Chorus]

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

[Chorus]

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

[Chorus]

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

[Chorus]

I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I 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 from the streets 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 on the smoky wind
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I'm going to make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I 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 from the streets 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 on the smoky wind
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I'm going to make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

> 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
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

> 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
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

> 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
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

As we gather in the chapel here in old Kilmainham Gaol,
I think about these past few days, oh, will they say we've failed?
From our school days, they have told us we must yearn for liberty,
Yet, all I want in this dark place is to have you here with me.

CHORUS
Oh, Grace, just hold me in your arms and let this moment linger,
They'll take me out at dawn and I will die.
With all my love, I place this wedding ring upon your finger,
There won't be time to share our love for we must say good-bye.

Now, I know it's hard for you, my love, to ever understand,
The love I bear for these brave men, my love for this dear land,
But when Padhraic called me to his side down in the G.P.O.,
I had to leave my own sick bed, to him I had to go.

CHORUS
Now, as the dawn is breaking, my heart is breaking, too,
On this May morn, as I walk out, my thoughts will be of you,
And I'll write some words upon the wall so everyone will know,
I love so much that I could see his blood upon the rose.

CHORUS
(There won't be time to share our love for we must say good-bye.)

I'll tell me ma
when I go home
the boys won't leave
the girls alone
they pulled my hair
they broke my comb
but thats alright
til I get home
she is handsome she is pretty
she is the belle of belfast city
she is courting one, two, three
please can 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 saying
"oh, my true love are you well"
out she comes as white as snow
with rings on her fingers
and bells on her toes
ol' jenny murray says she'll die
if she doesn't get a man with a roven eye
let the wind and the rain and the breeze blow high
and the snow come falling from the sky
jenny murray says she'll die
if she doesn't get a man with a roven eye
one young man is fighting for her
all the rest they swear they'll have her
let them all say as they will
albert mooney loves her still
I'll tell me ma
when I get home
the boys won't leave
the girls alone
they pulled my hair
they broke my comb
but thats alright
til I get home

I'll tell my ma when I get home,
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pull my hair and stole my comb
But that's all right till I go home

She is handsome, she is pretty,
She is the Belle of Belfast city
She is a courtin' one, two, three,
Please won't you tell me who is she

Albert Mooney says he loves her,
All the boys are fightin' for her
Knock at the door and ring at the bell,
Saying oh my true love, are you well

Out she comes as white as snow,
Rrings on her fingers, bells on her toes
Ould Johnny Morrissey says she'll die
If she doesn't get the fella with the roving eye

Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
And the snow come travellin' through the sky
She's as sweet 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 gets home
Let them all come as they will
For it's Albert Mooney she loves still

There's ne'er a nicht I'm gane to ramble, there's ne'er a nicht I'm gane to roam
There's ne'er a nicht I'm gane to ramble, intae the erms of me ain true love

I'm a rover, seldom sober, I'm a rover of high degree
It's when I'm drinkin' I'm always thinkin' how to gain my love's company

Though the nicht be as dark as dungeon, not a star can be seen above
I will be guided without a stumble, intae the erms of my ane true love

I'm a rover, seldom sober, I'm a rover of high degree
It's when I'm drinkin' I'm always thinkin' how to gain my love's company

He stepped up tae her bedroom winday, kneeling gently upon a staine
He whispers through her bedroom winday, my darling dear do you lie alaine

I'm a rover, seldom sober, I'm a rover of high degree
It's when I'm drinkin' I'm always thinkin' how to gain my love's company

She raised her head from her down soft pillow, wi' her erms around her breasts
Says: ”Why is that that my bedroom winday is 'sterbing me at my long nicht's rest?”

I'm a rover, seldom sober, I'm a rover of high degree
It's when I'm drinkin' I'm always thinkin' how to gain my love's company

Says I: ”My love it's I thy true lover, open the door and let me in
For I have come on a long nights journey more than near drenched to my skin”

I'm a rover, seldom sober, I'm a rover of high degree
It's when I'm drinkin' I'm always thinkin' how to gain my love's company

She opened the door wi' the greatest pleasure, she opened the door and she let him in
They both shook hands and embraced each other, until the morning they lay as one

I'm a rover, seldom sober, I'm a rover of high degree
It's when I'm drinkin' I'm always thinkin' how to gain my love's company

Says I: My love I must go and leave you, to climb the hills they are far above
But I will climb wi' the greatest pleasure, since I've been in the arms of my love