The Cot in the Corner

We're as true and how hard was our lot
O the landlord he turned us out of our cot
But O twas the happiest place of our lot
The dear little cot in the corner

The roof was thatched over with fine yellow straw
And the walls were as white as the snowflakes a ghr·
Twas as neat a picture a painter might draw
From the boreen beyond in the corner

Of bacon go leor we had many a fletch in
Which hung high on the walls of our old kitchen
It would your teeth water and ready to drop in
The hams that hung high in the corner

It's down by the fireside my mother would knit
Right opposite to her my father would sit
And the stories he told while his old dudeen was lit
As he smoked away in the corner

When supper was over and the neighbors walked in
It's down by the fireside they warmed their shins
And the boys and the girls neer thought it a sin
For to hug and to kiss in the corner

Goodbye father and mother, I will neer see you more
For between me and you the Atlantic doth roar
But I'm sure we will all meet in heaven a stÛr
Farewell to the cot in the corner

The Dear Little Isle

There's a dear little isle in the western ocean
An island of purity, holy and grand
Its name fills our daughters and sons with emotion
When heard on the shores of a far distant land

Tis Ireland, God bless you, the birthplace of heroes
The land of the patriot, warrior and saint
Of bards and of chieftains whose names live in story
And lives forever on history's page

O I love every blade of grass green on your mountains
Every leaf on your trees, every rock on your strand
O I love your green hills and your murmuring fountains
O I love you, a cushla, my own dear native land

You once were a proud and a glorious nation
Your name and your fame were known all oer the world
Till misfortune came oer you and sad desolation
And the emerald banner in slavery lay unfurled

They tortured your children, destroyed your green bowers
They tried to exterminate you long ago
But the Irish are somehow like wild creeping flowers
The faster that you pluck them the quicker they seem to grow

O I love every blade of grass green on your mountains
Every leaf on your trees, every rock on your strand
O I love your green hills and your murmuring fountains
O I love you, a cushla, my own dear native land

Bold Robert Emmet

The struggle is over, the boys are defeated
Our isle is surrounded with sadness and gloom
For we were betrayed now and shamefully treated
But I Robert Emmet lay awaiting my doom

The bark lay at anchor awaiting to bring me
Over the billows to the land of the free
For I must see my sweetheart, for I know she will cheer me
And with her I'll sail far over the sea

But I was arrested and cast into prison
Tried as a traitor, a rebel and spy
But no one dare call me a knave or a coward
For a hero I lived and a hero I'll die

Hark the bells tolling, I well know their meaning
My poor heart tells me it is my death knell
In come the clergy, the warden is waiting
I have no friends here for to bid me farewell

Goodbye old Ireland, my parents and sweetheart
Companions in arm, forget we must try
For my crime was the love of the land I was born in
I lay down my life for the emerald isle

Bold Robert Emmet, the darling of Erin
Bold Robert Emmet, he died with a smile
Farewell companions both loyal and daring
I lay down my life for the emerald isle

The Collier's Reel

O they invited me down to a party
And I brought me bagpipes by chance
Sure they asked me to play but I said No, no
I'll give you a bit of a dance
Then I took up me pipes and began to go playing
When somebody went fooling about
Sure they put a big hole in the bag of me pipes
And this is the tune that came out:

Fro &c.

Sure tis well I remember the night I was born
Me grandmother told me I'd seventeen teeth
And me father he looked to see if I'd any corns
O begorrah, says he, he has two crooked feet
And me grandmother said I was just like me daddy
With joy I went dancing and hopping about
But again she said I was just like me mammy
But she didn't say that till me dadda went out

Fro &c.

On the fourteenth of November
In the middle of July
The morning it was raining
And the afternoon was dry
I met an old old woman
Beside an old oak tree
And the devil a word I spoke to her
And she said the same to me

Fro &c.

So Mary sat down and she told the old story
Over and over and over again
Now says Patsy to Mary you told it so easy
Why don't you sit down and tell it again

So Mary sat down and she told the old story
Over and over and over again
Now says Patsy to Mary you told it contrary
Why don't you sit down and tell it again

So Mary sat down and she told the old story
Over and over and over again
Now says Patsy to Mary you told it completely
Now don't you sit down and tell it again

Fro &c.

Carrickfergus

I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrange
The deepest ocean I would swim over
The deepest ocean my love to find

But the sea is deep and I cannot swim over
And neither have I wings to fly
I wish I met with some lonesome boatman
To ferry me over, my love and I

My boyhood days brings back sad reflections
Of happy hours I spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my kind relations
Are all passed on now like the drifting snow

But I'll spend my days an endless rover
Soft is the grass I walk, my bed is free
O to be back there in Carrickfergus
On that long road down to the sea

O in Kilkenny it is reported
On marble stones there as black as ink
That with gold and silver I could support her
But I'll sing no more now till I get a drink

For I've been drinking and I'm seldom sober
And constant trouble from town to town
But now I'm sick and my days are over
Come all you young men and lay me down

Fare Thee Well, Enniskillen

Fare thee well, Enniskillen, fare thee well for a while
And all around the border of Erin's green isle
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom
And we'll all welcome home the Enniskillen dragoons

Her hair is as brown as the young raven's wing
Her eyes are as clear as the bluebells of spring
But light was her laugh like the sun on the sea
Till the weight of the world came between her and me

O what can a man do when the world is his foe
(?) fall on him like snow
But (?) and go away(?)
For to follow good fortune and get home in the war?

If the worse come to worse sure you've only to die
And the fond lass that loves you can hold her head high
Can hold her head high though the fond heart may break
For her lover lived bravely and died for her sake

Fare thee well, Enniskillen, fare thee well for a while
And all around the border of Erin's green isle
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom
And we'll all welcome home the Enniskillen dragoons

Matt Hyland

There was a lord who lived in a town
Who had a lovely handsome daughter
She was courted by a fair young man
Who was a servant to her father

But when her parents came to know
They swore they'd ban him from the island
The maid she knew her heart would break
Had she to part with young Matt Hyland

So straightaway to her love she'd go
Into his room to awake him
Saying Arise, my love, and go away
This very night you will be taken

I overheard my parents say
In spite of me they would transport you
So arise, my love, and go away
I wish to God I'd gone before you

They both sat down upon the bed
Just for the sake of one last hour
And neer a word did either speak
As down her cheeks the tears did shower

She laid her head upon his chest
Around his neck her arms entwined him
No duke or lord or earl I'll wed
I'll wait for you, my own Matt Hyland

Her father talked with his daughter fair
One night alone in her bedchamber
Saying We'll give you leave for to bring him back
Since there's no one can win your favor

She wrote a letter then in haste
For him her heart was still repining
They brought him back, to the church they went
And made a lord of young Matt Hyland

Annaghdown

If my health is spared I'll be long relating
Of the fate that happened at Annaghdown
And the keening after of mother and father
And child by the harbor, the mournful croon

O King of graces who died to save us
Twas a small affair but for one or two
When a boatload bravely in calm day sailing
Without storm or rain to be swept to doom

What wild despair was on all their faces
To see them there in the light of day
And in every place there was lamentation
And tearing of hair as the wreck was shared

And boys there lying when crops were ripening
From the strength of life there were borne to clay
In their wedding clothes for their wake they robed them
O King of glory, man's hope is vain

And then on Friday you could hear them crying
On every side as their hands they wrung
And morning found them unnerved and powerless
As the sharing out of each corpse was done

O Jesus Christ, by the cross you died on
Who offered your life for the poor and the slave
Bring them safely home to the light of glory
O restless souls of the drowned that day

Misfortune light on the spot they died on
May no star shine there or dawning ray
It drowned such numbers who made the journey
That fatal Thursday to Galway Fair

Men who could manage the plow and harrow
And break the fallow and scatter seed
And women whose fingers were deft and nimble
To spin fine linen and frieze to weave

Õosu CrÌost, by the cross you died on
Who offered your life for the poor and the slave
Bring them safely home to the light of glory
O restless souls of the drowned that day

My Poor Dog Trey

On the green banks of Shannon when Sheila was nigh
No blithe Irish lad was so happy as I
And no harp like my own could so cheerfully play
And wherever I went was my poor dog Trey

Poor dog, he was faithful and kind to be sure
And he constantly loved me although I was poor
When some sour-looking folks sent me heartless away
I had always a friend in my poor dog Trey

When the road was so dark and the night was so cold
And I and my dog were growing weary and old
How snugly we slept in my old coat of grey
And he licked me for kindness, my poor dog Trey

Though my wallet was scant I remembered his case
Nor refused my last crust to his pitiful face
Though he died at my feet on a cold winter's day
And I played a lament for my poor dog Trey

Where shall I go poor, forsaken and blind?
Shall I find one to guide me so faithful and kind?
To my dear native village so far, far away
I can never return with my poor dog Trey

The Lambs in the Green Hills

O the lambs in the green hills they sport and they play
And many strawberries grow around the salt seas
And many strawberries grow around the salt seas
And many's the ship sails the ocean

O the bride and bride's party to church they did go
The bride she rode foremost, she wore the best show
And I followed after, my heart full of woe
To see my love wed to another

The first place I saw her it was on the church stand
Gold rings on her finger, her love by the hand
Says I, My wee lassie, I'll be your man
Although you are wed to another

Stop, stop, says the groomsman, till I speak a word
Would you venture your life on the point of my sword?
For courting too slowly you lost your fair maid
So be gone, for you'll never enjoy her

Go dig now my grave both long, broad and deep
And sprinkle it over with flowers so sweet
And lay me down in it for to have my last sleep
For that's the best way to forget her

O the lambs in the green hills they sport and they play
And many strawberries grow around the salt seas
And many strawberries grow around the salt seas
And many's the ship sails the ocean

The Fields of Athenry

By a lonely prison wall I heard a young girl calling,
Michael, they have taken you away
For you stole Trevalyan¼s corn so the young might see the morn
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay

Refrain:
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
O our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It¼s so lonely round the fields of Athenry

By a lonely prison wall I heard a young man calling,
Nothing matters, Mary, when you¼re free
Against the famine and the crown I rebelled, they cut me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity

(Refrain)

By a lonely harbor wall she watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she lives in hope and prays for her love in Botany Bay
It¼s so lonely round the fields of Athenry

(Refrain)

Jessie

Twas at the Moorgate station in pursuit of my vocation
I met a tall and handsome girl behind the railway bar
Now I asked if that was Jessie, perhaps it was the lassie
For her diamond eyes were twinkling just like the evening star

I found this pretty dame made love to all that came
In a mild sort of manner with her eyes so soft and bright
She had lovers half a score, always someone to adore
From the first train in the morning till the last train out at night

And her admirers were:

Refrain:
A tinker and a tailor and a soldier and a sailor
And it's well she used to talk about her ma and her pa
A butcher and a baker and a curly-headed Quaker
All courted pretty Jessie at the Railway bar

Now this darling little creature with a smile in every feature
Was serving up her customers with wine and bitter beer
Now this being on a Sunday, I asked her if on Monday
She would meet me in the green park where she gave to me a leer

She says to me, Sir, most happy I would be, sir
But I'm sorry to inform you it's not my Sunday out
One Sunday out of nine, sir, is the only one that's mine, sir
And then she had to leave me for to have a glass of stout

But she never informed me that on previous evenings she had walked out with:

(Refrain)

Now better late than never, I thought that I was clever
To get Jessie to meet me when it was her Sunday out
With my whiskers oiled and (?) at the time and place appointed
I was there to the minute and began to look about

When Jessie soon she came O my heart was in a flame
When I saw her bonnet trimmed so gay
But judge to my surprise when I heard some urchin say
If she aint been here today with two more fellas

(Refrain)

Now my confidence was shaken, I thought the boy mistaken
My modesty would not permit to ask if it were true
I proposed and she accepted in a manner unaffected
And the tears she shed completely hid me from her view

I bought her wedding dress, fit for an empress
And saw the porter handed while serving at the bar
But on the wedding day Miss Jessie ran away
And got married to the man who wore the standard and the star

But the only consolation I had was beside myself she had taken out to walk:

(Refrain)

Back to recording page

Back to Home Page