ERIN GO BRAGH

CONSTANT LOVERS

BUNCH OF THYME

BLACK IS THE COLOUR OF MY TRUE LOVE'S HAIR

AS I WALKED OUT

A TRACE BOY ON LIGONIEL HILL

A FENIAN SONG

ERIN GO BRAGH    Back to Top

I'll tell you a story of a row in the town,
When the green flag went up and the Crown rag came down,
'Twas the neatest and sweetest thing ever you saw,
And they played the best games played in Erin Go Bragh.

One of our comrades was down at Ring's end,
For the honor of Ireland to hold and defend,
He had no veteran soldiers but volunteers raw,
Playing sweet Mauser music for Erin Go Bragh.

Now here's to Tom Pearce and our comrades who died
Tom Clark, McDunna, McDurmott, McBryde,
And here's to Jan Connelly who gave one hurrah,
And placed the machine guns for Erin Go Bragh.

One brave English captain was ranting that day,
Saying, "Give me one hour and I'll blow you away,"
But a big Mauser bullet got stuck in his craw,
And he died of lead poisoning in Erin Go Bragh.

Old Kent and his comrades like lions at bay,
From the South Dublin Union poured death and dismay,
And what was their horror when the Englishmen saw
All the dead khaki soldiers in Erin Go Bragh.

Now here's to old Dublin, and here's her renown,
In the long generation her fame will go down,
And our children will tell how their forefathers saw,
The red blaze of freedom in Erin Go Braugh.













CONSTANT LOVERS    Back to Top

Now as I was a-walking down by the sea shore
Where the wind it did whistle and the waves they did roar
There I heard a fair maid make a terrible sound
Like the wind and the waves that did echo around

Ch: Crying "Ohh.. my love is gone
He's the youth I adore
He's gone and I never shall see him no more"

She'd a voice like a nightingale, skin like a dove
And the song that she sang it was all about love
When I asked her to marry me, marry me please
But the answer she gave: "My love's drowned in the seas"

I said I had gold and I'd silver beside
On a coach and six horses with me she could ride
She said: "I'll not marry nor yet prove a wife
I'll be constant a true all the days I'll have life"

The she flung her arms wide and she took a great leap
From the cliffs that were high to the billows so deep
Saying: "The rocks of the ocean shall be my death bed
And the shrimps of the sea shall swim over my head"

And now every night at six bells they appear
When the moon is shining and the stars they are clear
These two constant lovers with each other's charms
Rolling over and over in each other's arms












BUNCH OF THYME    Back to Top

Come all ye maidens young and fair
And you that are blooming in your prime
Always beware and keep your garden fair
Let no man steal away your thyme

Chorus: For thyme it is a precious thing
And thyme brings all things to my mind
nlyme with all its flavours, along with all its joys
Thyme, brings all things to my mind

Once I and 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
Chorus

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
Chorus








BLACK IS THE COLOUR OF MY TRUE LOVE'S HAIR    Back to Top

Black is the colour of my true love's hair
Her lips are like some roses fair
She's the sweetest smile and the gentlest hands.
I love the ground whereon she stands

I love my love and well she knows
I love the grass whereon she goes.
But I know the day it never will come
when she and I will be as one.

I go to the Clyde for to mourn and weep
But satisfied I never can sleep
I'll write her a letter, just a few short lines
and suffer death ten thousand times

I know my love and well she knows
I love the grass whereon she goes
If she on earth no more I see
My life will quickly fade away












AS I WALKED OUT    Back to Top

As I walked out on an evening so clear,
A young man lamented for the loss of his dear,
And as he lamented, full sore he did cry,
Saying,"'Alas, I'm tormented, for love I must die."

"My dear and my jewel, my honey," said he,
"Will you let me gang wi'you a sweetheart to be?
And my dear and my jewel, my honey," said he,
"Will you let me gang wi'you a sweetheart to be?"

"Were I to say yes, I would say 'gainst my mind,
And for to say no, you would think I was unkind
For to sit and say nothing, you would say I was dumb,
So take that for your answer and go as you come."

"Oh, pox take you, Sally, for you are unkind,
You pulled the lily, left the red rose behind
But the lily will yellow, and the time will come soon
When the red rose will flourish in the sweet month of June."

"Oh, some court for beauty, but beauty soon fades,
Others marry for riches, get bold saucy jades,
But if I ever marry, as plain as you may see,
The wee lass that's loyal is the darling for me."















A TRACE BOY ON LIGONIEL HILL    Back to Top
(Hugh Quinn)

Do ye mind the old horse trams a long time ago,
As they passed through the city at jog trot or slow?
On the level they cantered, but the pace it did kill
When they got to the bottom of Ligoniel Hill.

But the trace-boys were there with a heart and a hand,
They let down the traces and buckled each band.
The passengers sat on contented and still
When they saw the bold trace-boys of Ligoniel hill.

Away we did canter as fast as the wind,
And left the poor country carts plodding behind;
And that song of the wind in my heart I hear still
As when I was a trace-boy on Ligoniel Hill.

The youth of today hold their heads in the air
And the young girls pass by with a golliwog stare,
Let them pity the crulge* on my back if they will
But I once was a trace-boy on Ligoniel Hill.

My friends all departed, and work now so scarce,
The only thing left is a ride in a hearse;
For the sky is my roof and my bed a brick-kiln,
Yet I once was a trace-boy on Ligoniel Hill.

* sic











A Fenian Song    Back to Top

1. The Queen's Own Regiment was their name;
From fair Toronto town they came
To put the Irish all to shame -
The Queen's and Colonel Boker!

2. What fury fills each loyal mind!
No volunteer would stay behind.
They flung their red rag to the wind -
"Hurrah, my boys!" said Boker.

3. Now helter skelter Ohio,
See how they play that "heel and toe"!
See how they run from their Irish foe -
The Queen's and Colonel Boker!

Irish Song Charts are available in pdg format at Spike's Music Collection.

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