I'll Tell My Ma

 

words and music traditional

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

Chords: KEY G

verse/chorus:

Background: A Belfast children's song.

Retour

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 wheel'd her wheel barrow,
Thro' streets broad and narrow...

(Chorus)
Crying, "Cockles and Mussels alive, alive-O!
Alive, alive-O! Alive, alive-O!"
Crying, "Cockles and Mussels alive, alive-O!"

She was a fishmonger,
But sure 'twas no wonder,
For so were her father and mother before,
And they each wheel'd their barrow
Thro' streets broad and narrow...

(Repeat Chorus)

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
Thro' streets broad and narrow...

(Repeat Chorus)

 

 

 Dans la belle ville de Dublin

Où les filles sont si jolies
J'ai posé mes yeux pour la première fois
Sur la douce Molly Malone
Alors qu'elle tirait sa charrette
Dans les rues, grandes et petites

(Refrain)
En criant" Coques et moules, vivantes, vivantes, oh !
Vivantes, vivantes, oh ! Vivantes, vivantes, oh !
En criant "Coques et moules vivantes, vivantes, oh !

Elle était poissonnière
Bien sûr, il n'y avait pas de mystère
Car son père et sa mère l'étaient avant elle
Et chacun tirait sa charrette
Dans les rues, grandes et petites.

(Refrain)

Elle mourut d'une fièvre
Personne n'a pu la sauver
Et c'en fut fini de la douce Molly Malone;
Mais son fantôme tire sa charrette
Dans les rues, grandes et petites.

(Refrain)

 

 

Retour

Spancil Hill

 

Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by

My mind being bent on rambling to Ireland I did fly

I stepped on board a vision and I followed with the wind

And I shortly came to anchor at the cross of Spancil Hill

 

 It being the 23rd June the day before the fair

When lreland's sons and daughters in crowds assembled there

The young and the old, the brave and the bold their journey to fulfill

There were jovial conversations at the fair of Spancil Hill 

 

I went to see my neighbors to hear what they might say

The old ones were all dead and gone and the young one's turning grey

I met with the tailor Quigley, he's a bould as ever still

Sure he used to make my britches when I lived in Spancil Hill 

 

I paid a flying visit to my first and only love

She's as white as any lily and as gentle as a dove

She threw her arms around me saying "Johnny I love you still

" Oh she's Ned the farmers daughter and the flower of Spancil HiII

 

I dreamt I held and kissed her as in the days of yore

She said, "Johnny you're only joking like many's the time before

"The cock he crew in the morning he crew both loud and shrill

And I awoke in California, many miles from Spancil Hill.

 

 

Retour

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.

 

 

Retour

Drunken Sailor

What shall we do with a drunken sailor

What shall we do with a drunken sailor

What shall we do with a drunken sailor

Early in the morning

Way hay an ' up she rises

Early in the morning

Put him in the long boat 'til he's sober

Shave his belly with a rusty razor

Put him in the scuppers with a hose pipe on him

Wake him shake him then we'll break him

Hang him on the leeward 'til he brings his dinner up

Put him in bed with the captain's daughter

That's what we'll do with a drunken sailor

 

 

Que ferons-nous d'un matelot saoul

Que ferons-nous d'un matelot saoul

Que ferons-nous d'un matelot saoul

De bonne heure le matin

Oué hé et le navire s'apprête

De bonne heure le matin

 

Pose-le dans le canot jusqu'à ce qu'il soit sobre

Rase lui le ventre avec un rasoir rouillé

Pose-le dans le dalot arrosé d'un tuyau d'eau

Réveille-le secoue-le puis nous le casserons

Prends-le sous le vent jusqu'à ce qu'il dégueule son dîner

Couche-le au lit avec la fille du capitaine

C'est ça qu'on fera avec un matelot saoul

Retour

Fiddler's Green

 Key /D

words and music John Conolly

As I roved by the dockside one evening so fair
To view the salt waters and take in the salt air
I heard an old fisherman singing a song
Oh, take me away boys me time is not long

Wrap me up in me oilskin and blankets
No more on the docks I'll be seen
Just tell me old shipmates, I'm taking a trip mates
And I'll see you someday on Fiddlers Green

Now Fiddler's Green is a place I've heard tell
Where the fishermen go if they don't go to hell
Where the weather is fair and the dolphins do play
And the cold coast of Greenland is far, far away

Now when you're in dock and the long trip is through
There's pubs and there's clubs and there's lassies there too
And the girls are all pretty and the beer is all free
And there's bottles of rum growing on every tree.

Where the skies are all clear and there's never a gail
And the fish jump on board with one swish on their tail
Where you lie at your leisure, there's no work to do
And the skipper's below making tea for the crew

Now I don't want a harp nor a halo, not me
Just give me a breeze and a good rolling sea
I'll play me old squeeze-box as we sail along
With the wind in the riggin to sing me a song

Chords: KEY D

 

Background: I learned this song from the Wolfe Tones. It's a beautiful haunting dream of a place to rest forever. The Fisherman's paradise.

 

 

 

Retour

The Foggy Dew :
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 fife did hum nor battle drum did sound it's dread tatoo
But the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey swell rang out through the foggy dew
Right proudly high over Dublin Town they hung out the flag of war
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Sulva or Sud El Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through
While Britannia's Huns, with their long range guns sailed in through the foggy dew
'Twas Britannia bade our Wild Geese go that small nations might be free
But their lonely graves are by Sulva's waves or the shore of the Great North Sea
Oh, had they died by Pearse's side or fought with Cathal Brugha
Their names we will keep where the fenians sleep 'neath the shroud of the foggy dew
But the bravest fell, and the requiem bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Eastertide in the springing of the year
And the world did gaze, in deep amaze, at those fearless men, but few
Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew
Ah, 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 more
But to and fro in my dreams I go and I'd kneel and pray for you,
For slavery fled, O glorious dead, When you fell in the foggy dew.
[ Merci à >Iyvindar d'avoir ajouté ces paroles ]

  

Retour

The Irish rover

Key:G

In the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and six,

We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork

We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks

For the grand City Hall in New York

'Twas a wonderful craft, she was rigged 'fore and aft

And how the wild winds drove her

She 'stood several blasts, she had twenty-seven masts

And they called her the Irish Rover

There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee

There was Hogan from County Tyrone

There was Johnny McGurk who was scared stiff of work

And a man from Westmeath called Malone

There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule

And fighting Bill Tracy from Dover

And your man Mick McCann, from the banks of the Bann

Was the skipper on the Irish Rover

We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags

We had two million barrels of stones

We had three million sides of old blind horses' hides

We had four million barrels of bones

We had five million hogs and six million dogs

And seven million barrels of porter

We had eight million bales of old nanny goats' tails

In the hold of the Irish Rover

We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out

And our ship lost her way in the fog

And the whole of the crew was reduced down to two

'Twas meself and the captain's old dog

Then the ship struck a rock; oh Lord what a shock

The bulkhead was turned right over

We turned nine times around - then the poor old dog was drowned

Now I'm the last of the Irish Rover

Traduction libre :

En l'an de grâce mil huit cent six

Nous avons pris la mer depuis la douce baie de Cork

Nous naviguions avec un cargo de briques

Pour le grand hôtel de ville de New York

C'était un vaisseau magnifique, elle était voilée d'avant en arrière

Et comment le vent sauvage la conduisait !

Elle supportait plusieurs vents, elle avait vingt-sept mâts

Et ils l'appelaient l'Irish Rover

Il y avait Barney McGee, des rives de la rivière Lee

Il y avait Hogan du comté de Tyrone

Il y avait Johnny McGuff, qui avait une peur bleue du travail

Et un gars de Westmeath appelé Malone

Il y avait Slugger O'Toole pour qui être saoul était une règle

Et Bill Tracy le bagarreur, de Dover

Et votre homme, Mick McCann, des rives de la rivière Bann

Était le skipper de l'Irish Rover

On avait un million de sacs des meilleurs chiffons de Sligo

On avait deux millions de barils de pierres

On avait trois millions d'oeillères

On avait quatre millions de barils d'os

On avait cinq millions de porcs et six millions de chiens

Et sept millions de barils de porter

On avait huit millions de bottes de queues de vieilles chevrettes

Dans la cale de l'Irish Rover

On avait navigué sept ans quand la rubéole s'est déclarée

Et notre bateau s'est perdu dans le brouillard

Et l'équipage entier s'est trouvé réduit à deux

Moi-même et le chien du capitaine

Alors le bateau a heurté un rocher ; Mon dieu, quel choc !

La cloison s'est complètement retournée

On a fait neuf tours — et le pauvre chien s'est noyé

Je suis le dernier de l'Irish Rover

 

Retour

•          The Lark In The Morning

Key: Dm

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

Oh, Roger the ploughboy he is a dashing blade
He goes whistling and singing over yonder leafy shade
He met with pretty Susan, she's handsome I declare
She is far more enticing then the birds all in the air

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

One evening coming home from the rakes of the town
The meadows been all green and the grass had been cut down
As I should chance to tumble all in the new-mown hay
Oh, it's kiss me now or never love, this bonnie lass did say

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

When twenty long weeks they were over and were past
Her mommy chanced to notice how she thickened round the waist
It was the handsome ploughboy, the maiden she did say
For he caused for to tumble all in the new-mown hay

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

Here's a health to y'all ploughboys wherever you may be
That likes to have a bonnie lass a sitting on his knee
With a jug of good strong porter you'll whistle and you'll sing
For a ploughboy is as happy as a prince or a king

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

Oh, Roger the ploughboy he is a dashing blade
He goes whistling and singing over yonder leafy shade
He met with pretty Susan, she's handsome I declare
She is far more enticing then the birds all in the air

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

One evening coming home from the rakes of the town
The meadows been all green and the grass had been cut down
As I should chance to tumble all in the new-mown hay
Oh, it's kiss me now or never love, this bonnie lass did say

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

When twenty long weeks they were over and were past
Her mommy chanced to notice how she thickened round the waist
It was the handsome ploughboy, the maiden she did say
For he caused for to tumble all in the new-mown hay

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

Here's a health to y'all ploughboys wherever you may be
That likes to have a bonnie lass a sitting on his knee
With a jug of good strong porter you'll whistle and you'll sing
For a ploughboy is as happy as a prince or a king

The lark in the morning she rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboy she whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening with the dew all on her wings

 

Retour

The Leaving of Liverpool

 

Farewell to Prince's Landing Stage

River Mersey, fare thee well

I am bound for California

A place I know right well

 

Chorus:

So fare thee well, my own true love

When I return united we will be

lt's not the leaving of Liverpool that's grieving me

But my darling when I think of thee

 

l'm bound off for California

By the way of stormy Cape Horn

And l' bound to write you a letter, love

When I am homeward bound

 

I have signed on a Yankee Clipper ship

Davy Crockett is her name

And Burgess is the Captain of her

And they say she's a floating Hell

 

I have shipped with Burgess once before

And I think I know him well

If a man's a seaman, he can get along

If not, then he's sure in Hell

 

Farewell to lower Frederick Street

Ensign Terrace and Park Lane

For I think it will be a long, long time

Before I see you again

 

Oh the sun is on the harbour, love

And I wish I could remain

For I know it will be a long, long time

Till I see you again

 

Traduction claude et bibiche

le départ de Liverpool

Au revoir l’escale du Prince est finie

Le  fleuve Mersey, au revoir

Je te quitte  pour la Californie
Un endroit que je connais très  bien

Au revoir, mon seul et vrai amour
Je r’viendrai et  nous nous marierons
Quitter Liverpool cela me fait pleurer
Mon cher amour, je ne pense seulement qu’à toi.

Je te quitte  pour la Californie
Par la route des tempêtes
Je t'écrirai une lettre, Mon amour
Pour te dire quand  je reviendrai.

Je me suis enrôlé sur le Clipper Yankee
Davy Crockett, c’est son nom
Et le capitaine il s’appelle Burgess 
On dit que c' est un enfer flottant


 J'ai déjà navigué avec Burgess
Je pens’ le connaître bien
C'est un marin solide qui tient la route

Sinon, il s’rait déjà en enfer


Au revoir à la petit’ rue Frederick

Ensign Terrace et Park Lane
Je pense que le voyage sera long

Avant que je revienne vers toi


Dans le port tu es le soleil, mon amour
J'aim’rais pouvoir y rester
Car je sais que le voyage sera long

Avant de te revoir mon amour

Retour

 

Never wed an old man

Key: D

Well an old man came courting me, hey ding-doorum dow
An old man came courting me, me being young
An old man came courting me, fain he would marry me
Maids when you're young never wed an old man

Chorus:

Because he's got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He's got no faloorum, faliddle dal day
He's got no faloorum, he's lost his ding-doorum
So maids when you're young never wed an old man

When we went to church, hey ding-doorum dow
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, hey ding-doorum dow
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 threw me leg over him, hey ding-doorum dow
I flung my leg over him, me being young
I threw me leg over him, damn well near smullered him
Maids when you`re young never wed an old man
When he went to sleep, hey ding-doorum dow
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, faliddle aye oorum
I found his faloorum, faliddle aye ay
I found his faloorum, he got my ding-doorum
So maids when you're young never wed an old man

 

 

Retour

Banks of the Roses

 

Key:D

On the banks of the roses, my love and I sat down 

And I took out my violin to play my love a tune 

In the middle of the tune, O she sighed and she said 

O Johnny, lovely Johnny, Would you leave me 

O when I was a young man, I heard my father say 

That he'd rather see me dead and buried in the clay 

Sooner than be married to any runaway 

By the lovely sweet banks of the roses 

O then I am no runaway and soon I'll let them know 

I can take a good glass or leave it alone 

And the man that doesn't like me, he can keep 

his daughter home 

And young Johnny will go roving with another 

And if ever I get married, twill be in the month of May 

When the leaves they are green and the meadows 

they are gay 

And I and my true love can sit and sport and play 

On the lovely sweet banks of the roses

 

 

Retour

Only Our Rivers Run Free

 

When apples still grow in November,

when blossoms still bloom from each tree

When leaves are still green in December,

it's then that our land will be free

I've wandered her hills and her valleys

 and still through my sorrow I see

 

A land that has never known freedom,

and only her rivers run free

I drink to the death of her manhood,

those men who'd rather have died

Then to live in the cold chains of bondage,

 to bring back there rights were denied

Oh where are you now when we need you,

What burns, where the flame used to be

Are ye gone like the snows of last winter,

and will only our rivers run free

 

How sweet is life, but we're crying,

how mellow the wine that were dry

How fragrant the rose, but it's dying,

how gentle the wind, but it sighs.

What good is in youth, when it's aging,

what joy is in eyes that can't see

When there's sorrow in sunshine and flowers,

and still only our rivers run free.

 (Michael McConnel, 1973)

 

Retour

 

 Whiskey In The Jar :

 

Key: C
As I was a goin' over the far famed Kerry mountains
I met with captain Farrell and his money he was counting
I first produced my pistol and I then produced my rapier
Saying "Stand and deliver" for he were a bold deceiver
[Refrain]
musha ring dumma do damma da
whack for the daddy 'ol
whack for the daddy 'ol
there's whiskey in the jar
I counted out his money and it made a pretty penny
I put it in my pocket and I took it home to Jenny
She sighed and she swore that she never would deceive me
But the devil take the women for they never can be easy
[Refrain]
I went up to my chamber, all for to take a slumber
I dreamt of gold and jewels and for sure 't was no wonder
But Jenny drew me charges and she filled them up with water
Then sent for captain Farrell to be ready for the slaughter
[Refrain]
't was early in the morning, just before I rose to travel
Up comes a band of footmen and likewise captain Farrell
I first produced me pistol for she'd stolen away me rapier
But I couldn't shoot the water, so a prisoner I was taken
[Refrain]
Now there's some take delight in the carriages a-rolling
And others take delight in the hurling and the bowling
But I take delight in the juice of the barley
And courting pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early
[Refrain]
If anyone can aid me 't is my brother in the army
If I can find his station in Cork or in Killarney
And if he'll go with me, we'll go rovin' through Killkenny
And I'm sure he'll treat me better than my own a-sporting Jenny
[Refrain]


 

 

Retour

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. 

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 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." 

chorus

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." 

chorus 

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. 

chorus

 

 Retour