D G A7
In the sweet country Limerick one cold winter’s night
D G A
All the turf fires were burning when I saw the light
D A7 D A7
And a drunken old midwife was tipsy with joy
Bm G A7
As she danced round the floor with her slip of a boy
Chorus:
D Bm
Singing “Ban-ye na mo is an gow-na
D A7 D
And the juice of the barley for me.”
Well when I was a gassoon of eight years old or so
With me turf and me primer to school I did go
To a dusty old school house without any door
Where lay the school master blind drunk on the floor
Chorus:
D Bm
Singing “Ban-ye na mo is an gow-na
D A7 D
And the juice of the barley for me.”
At the learning I wasn’t such a genius I’m thinking
But I soon bet the master entirely at drinking
Not a wake or a wedding for five miles around
But meself in the corner was sure to be found
Chorus:
D Bm
Singing “Ban-ye na mo is an gow-na
D A7 D
And the juice of the barley for me.”
One Sunday the priest read me out from the altar
Saying “You’ll end up your days with your neck in a halter
And you’ll dance a fine jig betwixt heaven and hell.”
And the words they did frighten, the truth for to tell
Chorus:
D Bm
Singing “Ban-ye na mo is an gow-na
D A7 D
And the juice of the barley for me.”
So the very next morning as the dawn it did break
I went down to the vestry the pledge for to take
And there in that room sat the priests in a bunch
Round a big roaring fire drinking tumblers of punch
Chorus:
D Bm
Singing “Ban-ye na mo is an gow-na
D A7 D
And the juice of the barley for me.”
Well from that day to this I have wandered alone
I’m a jack of all trades and a master of none
With the sky for me roof and the earth for me floor
And I’ll dance out my days drinking whiskey galore
Chorus:
D Bm
Singing “Ban-ye na mo is an gow-na
D A7 D
And the juice of the barley for me.”