The Dubliners

[fox69]

"Banks Of The Roses"

"Banks Of The Roses"



On the Banks of the Roses me love and I sat down
And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune
And in the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said
Oro Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me

When I was a young boy I heard me 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

On the Banks of the Roses me love and I sat down
And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune
And in the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said
Oro Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me

And then I am no runaway and soon I'll let them know
That I can take a bottle or can leave it alone
And if her daddy doesn't like it he can keep his daughter at home
And young Johnny will go rovin' with some other

On the Banks of the Roses me love and I sat down
And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune
And in the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said
Oro Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me

And when I get married t'will be in the month of May
When the leaves they are green and the meadows they are gay
And me and me true love we'll sit and sport and play
By the lovely sweet banks of the roses

On the Banks of the Roses me love and I sat down
And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune
And in the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said
Oro Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me

 

[fox69]

"Biddy Mulligan"

"Biddy Mulligan"



You may travel from Clare to County Kildare,
From Dublin right down to Macroom.
But where would you see a fine widow like me
Biddy Mulligan, the pride of the Coombe

I'm a scrap of a widow that lives in a place,
In Dublin that's known as the Coombe.
And me comfort and ease sure no king could excel
Though me palace consists of one room
By Patrick Street corner for thirty-five years,
I've stood by me stall, that's no lie
And while I stood there, there was no one would dare
To say black was the white of me eye

I sell apples and oranges, nuts and sweet peas,
Bulls eyes and sugar-stick sweet.
On a Saturday night I sell second-hand clothes,
From me stall on the floor of the street.
Now I have a son Mick and he plays on the fife
He belongs to the Longford street band
It will do your heart good just to see them march out
On a Sunday to Sandymount strand

You may travel from Clare to County Kildare,
From Dublin right down to Macroom.
But where would you see a fine widow like me
Biddy Mulligan, the pride of the Coombe

 

[fox69]

"Black Velvet Band"

"Black Velvet Band"



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

 

[fox69]

"Bombo Lane"

"Bombo Lane"




Down in Bombo Lane
There lives a big fat woman
And if you want to know her name
You have to pay a shilling

Soldiers, two and six,
Sailors, two and a penny,
Big fat men tw opounds ten
Little kids a penny

 

[fox69]

"Boulavogue"

"Boulavogue"



At Boulavogue as the sun was setting
On the bright May meadows of Shelmaliar
Our rebel hand set the heather blazing
And brought the neighbours from far and near.

Then Father Murphy from old Kilcormack
Spurred up the rocks with a warning cry
"Arm, arm", he cried, "for I've come to lead you,
For Ireland’s freedom we'll fight and die"

He led us on 'gainst the coming soldier,
The cowardly yeomen we put to flight
It was at the Harrow the boys of Wexford
Showed Bookies' regiment how men could fight

Look out for hirelings, King George of England,
Search ev'ry promentory where breathes a slave
For Father Murphy from the County Wexford
Sweeps o'er the land like a mighty wave

At Vinegar Hill o'er the pleasant Slaney
Our heroes vainly stood back to back
And the Yoes at Tullow took Father Murphy
And they burned his body upon the rack

God grant you glory, brave Father Murphy,
And open heaven to all your men
For the cause that called you may call tomorrow
In another fight for the green again

 

[fox69]

"Building Up And Tearing England Down"

"Building Up And Tearing England Down"



Oh, I won a hero's name with McAlpine and Costain
With Fitz Patrick, Murphy Ash and the Wimpy's gang
I've been often on the road on me way to draw the dole
When there's nothing left to do for Johnny Laing
And I used to think that God made the mixer, pick and hod
So a Paddy might no hell above the ground
I've had ganger's big and tough
Tell me tear that hole out rough
When you're building up and tearing England down

In a tunnel under ground a young Limerick man was found
He was build in to the new Victoria line
When the bonus gang had passed sticking from a concrete cast
Was the face of little Charlie Joe divine
And the ganger man McGurk said big Paddy ate's the work
When the gasmain blew and he flew off the ground
Oh they swore heed send down slack
I'll not be there until I'm back
Keep on building up and tearing England down

I was on the shuttering dam on the day that Jack McCann
Got the better of his stammer in a week
He fell from the shuttering dam
And that poor old stuttering man
He was never ever more inclined to speak
And I saw old Balls McColl with a big flyover fall
Into a concrete mixer spinning round
Tough it wasn't his intent he got a fine head of cement
When he was building up and tearing England down

I remember carrier Jack with his hod upon his back
How he swore one day he'd set the world on fire
Well his face they've never seen
Since his shovel it cut clean
To the middle of the big high tension wires
Oh the more like Robin Hood well he wrung trough Cricklewood
Or dance around the pubs in Camdon Town
Oh but let no man proclaim sure old Pad' could die in vain
When he's building up and tearing England down

So come all you navvy's bold
Do not think that English gold
Is just waiting to be taken from each sod
By the likes of you and me will never get the O.B.E
Or a knighthood for good service to the hod
It's the concrete master race
That would keep you in your place
And a ganger man to kick you to the ground
If you ever try to take part of what the bosses made
When you're building up and tearing England down

 

[fox69]

"Bunclody"

"Bunclody"



Oh were I at the moss house
Where the birds do increase
By the foot of Mount Leinster
Or some silent place
By the streams of Buncloudy
Where all pleasures do meet
And all that I ask is
One kiss from you sweet

Oh the streams of Buncloudy
They flow down to the sea
By the streams of Buncloudy
I am longing to be
A-drinking stong liquor
At the height of my cheer
Here's a health to Buncloudy
And the lass I love dear

Oh the cuckoo is a pretty bird
And she sings as she flies
She brings us glad tidings
And she tells us no lies
She sucks all of the small birds' eggs
Just to make her voice clear
And the more she sings cuckoo
The summer draws near

If I were a clerk
And I could write a good hand
I would write to my true love
So that she'd understand
That I am a young fellow
Who is wounded in love
Once I lived in Buncloudy
But now must remove

So farewell to my father
And my mother adieu
To my sister and my brother
Farewell unto you
I am bound out for America
My fortune to try
When I think on Buncloudy
I am ready to die

 

[fox69]

"Carrickfergus"

"Carrickfergus"



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

 

[fox69]

"Cavan Girl"

"Cavan Girl"



As I walk the road from Killeshandra, weary I sit down
For it's twelve long miles around the lake to get to Cavan town
'Though Oughter and the road I go, one scene beyond compare
How I curse the time it takes to reach my Cavan girl so fair.

The autumn shades are on the leaves, the trees will soon be bare
Each red coat leaf around me seems to colour all her hair
My gaze retreats, defies my feet and once again I sigh
Of a broken pool of sky reminds the colour of her eyes.

At the Cavan cross each Sunday morning it's there she can be found
And she seems to have the eye of every boy in Cavan town
If my luck will hold I'll have the golden summer of her smile
And to break the hearts of Cavan men she'll talk to me a while

So next Sunday evening finds me homeward to Killeshandra bound
To work a week till I return to court in Cavan town
When asked if she would be my wife, at least she'd not said no
So next Sunday morning rouse myself and back to her I go..

 

[fox69]

"Champion At Keeping Them Rolling"

"Champion At Keeping Them Rolling"



I am an old-timer, I travel the road,
I sit in me wagon and lumber me load.
Me hotel is the jungle – the caff me abode.
And I`m well known to Blondie and Mary.
Me liquor is diesel oil laced with strong tea
And the old Highway Code was me first ABC
And I cut me eye-teeth on an old AEC
And I`m champion at keeping them rolling.

I`ve sat in the cabin and broiled in the sun
Been snowed up on Shap on the Manchester run.
I`ve crawled through the fog with me twenty-two ton
Of fish that was stinking like blazes.
From London to Glasgow to the Newcastle quay
From Liverpool, Preston and Bristol city
The polones on the road give the thumb sign to me
But I`m champion at keeping them rolling.

You might sing of your your soldiers and sailors so bold
But there`s many and many a hero untold
Who sits at the wheel in the the heat and the cold,
Day after day without sleeping.
So watch out for cops and slow down at the bend
Check all your gauges and watch your big end.
And zig with your lights when you pass an old friend.
You`ll be champion at keeping them rolling.