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lyrics
My thanks to Erica, Richard and Jenny for this one - also to Matthew Ward for reminding me of it
The harvest time has gone, gentle Annie
Your mutton is very sweet, gentle Annie
I'll say farewell, gentle Annie
If you take my advice, gentle Annie
The bullocks they are yoked, gentle Annie
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ALMOST EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE [Sands, Sands, Sands]
Thank you Matthew for persevering with me on this one
lyrics can probably be found on the Internet
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HUNGRY CHILD [Judith Piepe]
This goes all the way back to Ogron - Steve, Jayne and John, thanks, folks
lyrics can probably be found on the Internet
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GO AND LEAVE (Once I Loved) [trad]
This came from my grandmother by way of my father. My thanks to Niamh Parsons for the additional verses (4 and 5)
However could I tell another
So go and leave me if you want to
Many's the night love as you lay sleeping
Now you've gone and loved another
Once I loved with fond affection
* * *
WHITE COCKADE [trad]
My thanks to Ogron again for this one
It's true my love has enlisted and he wears a white cockade
As I walked out one morning as I wandered over the moss
My love is tall and handsome and comely for to see
And may he never prosper and may he never thrive
He's then pulled out a handkerchief to wipe a flowing eye
* * *
HERE'S TO MY WILD IRISH BOY [Tom Griffith]
What can I say, Tom? Thankyouverymuch!
take a look at
Tom's website
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THE BOYS OF BARR NA SRAIDE [Sigerson Clifford]
I first learnt this from Niamh Parsons
lyrics can probably be found on the Internet
* * *
I COURTED A WEE GIRL [trad]
From the singing of Cathy Jordan of Dervish.
I courted a wee girl for many's the day
The bride and her party to the church they did go
The bride and her party at the church they did stand
The next time I saw her she was seated down neat
The last time I saw her she was all dressed in white
So dig me a grave and dig it down deep
* * *
SEVEN NIGHTS DRUNK [trad]
My father and I spent ages trying to remember this one - Brother Eddie came up with the rest of it (too late, alas!)
As I come home on a Monday night drunk as a drunk can be
She said you drunk, you chump, you silly old drunk
On Tuesday there's a hat, but she says it's a flowerpot...
On Wednesday there's a pair of boots, but she says it's a chamberpot...
On Thursday there's a face in the bed, but she says it's a baby...
On Friday there's a lump in the bed, but she says it's a shillelagh...
On Saturday a man leaves the house a little after three, but she says it's an English tax-collector...
As I come home on a Sunday night as drunk as a drunk can be
I said I'm drunk, I'm drunk, I'm a silly old chump
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And the wild oats are scattered around the fields
You'll be anxious to know, gentle Annie
What your little crop of oats is going to yield
And I'm sure it will be packed in New South Wales
But you'd better put a fence around the cabbage
Or it'll all be eaten up by the snails
For you know with you I can no longer stay
So I'll bid you farewell, Gentle Annie
Till we meet again another harvest day
You'd better watch your chappy on his way
With his knapsack slung over his shoulder
He stole some knives and forks the other day
And you know with you I can stay here no more
So I'll bid you adieu, gentle Annie
You're the little dark-eyed girl I adore
Of the time together we've spent
I thought our love would last forever
Now I find it's only lent
Never let me cross your mind
If you think I'm so unworthy
Go and leave me I don't mind
Dreaming in your sweet repose
While I poor girl lie a-weeping
Listening to the wind that blows
Here's the ring love that once you gave me
When our hearts were sure entwined
Give it to the black-haired lady
She'll never know it once was mine
One who has more gold in store
While I a young girl lie a-weeping
Left alone because I am poor
Farewell to friends and kind relations
And to you my first young man
'Tis you have brought me grief and sorrow
Never will I love again
One whose thoughts were dear to me
Then there came the dreary parting
Never more he'll speak to me
He is a handsome young man likewise a roving blade
He is a handsome young man just right to serve the king
Oh my very heart is breaking all for the loss of him
I had no thoughts of enlisting till a soldier did me cross
He kindly did invite me to take the flowing bowl
He advanced me some money, two guineas and a crown
But by some sad misfortune a soldier now is he
May the man that first enlisted him not prosper night nor day
How I wish that he would perish all in the foaming spray
On that he puts his hands to as long as he's alive
May the very ground he treads upon the grass refuse to grow
Since he's been the only cause of my sorrow grief and woe
Wipe up wipe up them mournful tears likewise them mournful sighs
And be you of good courage till I return again
When you and I love will be married when I return again
(Oh all right - thank you, Lobster Princess, too)
I slighted all others that came in my way
And it's well she's rewarded me to the last day
She's gone to be wed to another
The bride she walked foremost she put the best show
And I followed after my heart full of woe
To see my love wed another
Gold rings on their fingers and a love in their hands
The man she has wed has houses and land
He may have since I couldn't gain her
I sat down beside her not a bite could I eat
For I found my love's company far better than meat
Since love was the cause of my misfortune
The more I gazed on her she dazzled my sight
I lifted my hat and I bade her goodnight
Here's adieu to all false-hearted lovers
And strew it all over with primroses neat
And lay me down easy no more to weep
Since love was the cause of my ruin
There I saw a coat where no other coat should be
I called to me wife, I said to her, I thought you was true to me
So how come there's a coat out there where my old coat should be
You're drunk as a chump could be
It's nothing but a tablecloth me mother sent to me
Miles I have traveled, ten thousand sights I saw
But buttonholes on a tablecloth I never seen before
But hatband on a flowerpot I never seen before
But hobnails on a chamberpot I never seen before
But moustache on a baby's face I never seen before
But cobblers on a shillelagh I never seen before
But an Englishman awake after ten, I never seen before
I went into the garden shed to see what I could see
I grabbed hold of a pitchfork and went into the room
I shoved it under the blankets, gawd, you should have seen them swoon
I'm drunk as a chump could be
I thought it was a feather duster your mother sent to me
Miles I have traveled, ten thousand sights I saw
But the way this pair took off down the road
I won't see them no more
Well, that's all folks ... until the next time!
or here for the liner notes
or here for the musicians
or here you can buy the album