Erin Go Bragh (The Exile of Erin)
Lyrics: Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)
G D Em C
There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin.
G D Em C
The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill;
G D Em C
For his country he sighed, while at twilight repairing.
G D Em C
To wander alone by the wind beaten hill.
Em D G Gmaj7
The day-star attracted his eyes’ sad de – vo - tion,
Am7 C Em B7
For it rose o'er his own native isle of the ocean,
Em D G Gmaj7
When once in the fire of his youthful e - mo - tion,
Am7 C B7 Em
He sang the bold anthem Erin-go-Bragh.
___________________________
G D Em C
"Sad is my fate !" said the heart-broken stranger
G D Em C
The wild-deer and wolf to a convert can flee.
G D Em C
But I have no refuge from famine and danger-
G D Em C
A home and a country remain not to me.
Em D G Gmaj7
Never again, in the green sunny bowers,
Am7 C Em B7
Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours,
Em D G Gmaj7
Or cover my harp with the wild-women flower,
Am7 C B7 Em
And strike to the numbers of Erin-go-Bragh.
G D Em C
"Erin, my country! So sad and forsaken,
G D Em C
In dreams I revisit thy sea beaten shore:
G D Em C
But alas! in a far foreign land I awaken,
G D Em C
And sigh for the friends who can meet me no more
Em D G Gmaj7
O, cruel fate! Will you never re-place me
Am7 C Em B7
In a mansion of peace where no perils can chase me?
Em D G Gmaj7
Never again shall my brothers em-brace me
Am7 C B7 Em
They died to defend or live to deplore
_______________________
G D Em C
Yet in all of its sad recollections suppressing,
G D Em C
One dying wish my lone bosom can draw
G D Em C
Erin, an exile bequeaths you his blessing!
G D Em C
Land of my forefathers, Erin- go- bragh!
Em D G Gmaj7
Buried and cold, when my heart stills its mo - tion,
Am7 C Em B7
Green be your fields, sweetest Isle of the ocean !
Em D G Gmaj7
Where harp-striking bards sing aloud with de - vo - tion
Am7 C B7 Em
Erin Mavourneen!—Erin-go-Bragh."
The Banks of the Roses (Traditional)
G C
By the Banks of the Roses my love and I sat down
F C G Am
And I took out my fiddle for to play my love a tune
F C G Am
In the middle of the tune she sighed and she said
C F C G C
Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny would you leave me
C
When I was a young lad I heard my father say
F C G Am
That he’d rather see me dead and be buried in the clay
F C G Am
Rather than be married off to any runaway
C F C G C
By the lovely sweet Banks of the Ro - ses
Chorus
C
Well I am no runaway tell you what to do
F C G Am
I can take the bottle I can drink with anyone
F C G Am
If her father doesn’t like me he can leave his daughter home
C F C G C
And Johnny will go rovin’ for another
Chorus:
C
If ever I get married t’will be in the month of May
F C G Am
When all the leaves they are green and the meadows they are gay
F C G Am
And me and my true love will sit and sport and play
C F C G C
By the lovely, sweet banks of the Ro - ses
Mike Gallagher
The Love of My Life
(which came perilously close to being named "The Green Album")
(cooler heads prevailed)
Lyrics and chords for guitar
Farewell To Nova Scotia (Traditional)
G D
The sun was sinking in the west,
Em C Em D Em
The birds were singing out from ev’ - ry tree.,
G D Em D Em D Em
All nature seemed inclined to rest But a - las there was no rest for me.
Chorus
G D
Farewell to Nova Scotia, your sea-bound coast,
Em C Em D Em
Let your mountains dark and drear - y be.
G D
When I am far away o’er the briny ocean tossed,
Em D Em D Em
Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?
G D Em C Em D Em
I grieve to leave my native home, I grieve to leave my comrades all,
G D
And my parents whom I hold very dear,
Em D Em D Em
And the bonnie, bonnie lass I do a - dore.
Chorus
G D Em C Em D Em
I had two brothers who are laid to rest, their arms are folded upon their chest.
G D
Poor simple sailors just like me,
Em D Em D Em
who were tossed and driven on the cold, dark sea.
Chorus
G D
The drums they do beat and the wars do alarm,
Em C Em D Em
at the captain’s call I must o - bey.
G D
Farewell, farewell to Nova Scotia's charm -
Em D Em D Em
For it's early in the morning and I must a - way
Chorus
Brigid Flynn (Percy French 1854-1920)
Am Em Am Em
I've a nice little house and a cow or two with grass
Am Em Am Em Am
I've a plant garden running by my door
Am Em Am Em
I've a shelter for the hens and a stable for the ass
Am Em Am Em Am
Now what could a man want more?
C G Am Em Am Em Am
I don't know, maybe so But a bachelor is easy and he's free
Am Em Am Em
There’s lots to look after and I'm living all alone
Am Em Am Em Am
There’s nobody's looking after me
Am Em Am Em
My father often tells me I should go in for a try
Am Em Am Em Am
To find a girl who owns a bit of land
Am Em Am Em
I know the way he says it, there is someone on his mind
Am Em Am
And my mother has the whole thing planned
C G Am Em Am
Will she go, I don’t know But it would mollify them greatly to agree
Am Em Am Em
Then there's little Bridget Flynn, sure it’s her I'd love to win
Am Em Am Em Am
But she never had an eye for me
Am Em Am Em
Now there's a little girl who is worth her weight in gold
Am Em Am Em Am
And that's a decent dowry, don't you see
Am Em Am Em
I mean to go and tell her just as soon as I get bold
Am Em AM
If she'll come and have an eye for me
C G
Will she go, I don't know
Am Em Am
But I'd love to have her sitting on my knee
Am Em Am Em
I'd sing like a thrush in the hawthorn bush
Am Em Am Em Am
If she'd come and have an eye for me
Leaving of Liverpool (Traditional)
D G D Em A7
Oh fare-thee-well my own true love; I am going far away.
D G D A7 D
I am bound for Cali – forn – i - a, but I know that I'll return some day.
A G D
So fare thee well, my own true love,
A
And when I return united we will be.
D D7 G D
It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me,
A D
But, my darling, when I think of thee.
D G D Em A7
I’m away on a Yankee sailing ship Davy Crockett is her name.
D G D
And John Burgess is the captain of her,
A7 D
and they say that she’s a floating hell.
Chorus
D G D Em A7
Oh, the lights are on the harbor, love, and I wish I could remain,
D G D A7 D
But I’m bound for Cali – forn – i -a but I know that I’ll return again
D A G D
Chorus (end): But, my darling, when I think of thee.
The County Down (by Tommy Sands)
Bruce: When you're out walk-ing, and there's no one near you
D A Bm E
But a voice keeps call-ing and you hear your name
Bm F#m D A
It's not the leaves on the whispering breezes
D E
It's me that's calling you back again
Chorus:
Bm F#m D A
Oh can you hear me? Oh can you hear me?
Bm F#m D E
As you roam through lone - ly London town?
D A Bm F#m
When evening's fall - ing you'll hear me call - ing
D E A
"Come on ho - me to the County Down"
D A D A
Mike: Do you remember the fiddlers playing
D A Bm E
The songs and stor - ies the whole night long?
Bm F#m D A
'Tis little then that you thought of leaving
D (Bm7) E
It seems so strange now that you are gone
(Chorus)
D A D A
Bruce: The fish are danc - ing on Clanrye River
D A D E
The teams are sporting in old Glenvale
Bm F#m D A
My heart no long - er can lead the cheering
D E
When you're not playing, it's a different game
(Chorus)
D A D A
Mike: I'm always dream - ing that things are changing
D A D E
And that they're build-ing a factory tall
Bm F#m D A
Young ones are need - ed again in Newry
D (Bm7) E
But I still need you the most of all
(Chorus)
Tell Me Ma (Traditional)
G C G D G
I'll tell me ma when I get home the boys won't leave the girls alone
C G D G
They pull my hair, stole my comb, but that's all right till I get home
C G D
She is handsome, she is pretty She is the belle of Belfast city
G C G D G
She is courting one, two, three, Please, won't you tell me, who is she?
G C G D G
1. Albert Mooney says he loves her, all the boys are fighting for her
G C G
They knock on the door and ring on the bell
D G
Saying, oh my true love, are you well?
C G D
Out she comes, white as snow rings on her fingers, bells on her toes
G C
Ol’ Johnny Murray says she'll die
G D G
if she doesn't get the fellow with the roving eye
G C G
2. Let the wind & the rain & the hail blow high
D G
and the snow come tumbling from the sky
G C G D G
She's as nice as apple pie, and she'll get her own lad by and by
G C G D
When she gets a lad of her own, she won't tell her ma when she gets home
G C G D G
Let them all come as they will, but it's Albert Mooney she loves still
The Water Is Wide/Carrickfergus (Traditional)
G C G Em C D
The water is wide I can’t cross o’er Neither have I wings that I could fly
G C Em C G D G
Build me a boat that will carry two And both shall row, my love and I
G C G Em D
O love is gentle and love is kind the sweetest flower when first it’s new
G C Em C G D G
But love grows old and waxes cold and fades away like the morning dew
G C G Em C D
There is a ship that sails the sea She’s loaded deep as deep can be
G C Em C G D G C G C
But not as de - ep as the love I’m in I know not how I sink or swim.
Dm G C Am F G C
I wish I was in Carrickfergus, Only for nights in Ballygrand
Dm G C Am F G C
I would swim over the deepest ocean, only for nights in Ballygrand
Am G Am F G
But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over Neither have I the wings to fly
F G C Am F G C
I would to hire me a handsome boatman to ferry me over to my love and die
Dm G C Am F G C
Oh in Kilkenny it is reported on marble stone there as black as ink
Dm G C Am F G C
With gold and silver I would support her but I'll say no more now 'till I get a drink.
Am G Am F G
For I'm drunk today, and I'm seldom sober, A lonesome rover from town to town,
F G C Am F G F G C
Ah, but I'm old now my days are numbered Come all you young men And lay me down
Molly Malone (Traditional)
D A
In Dublin's fair city, where girls are so pretty,
D Bm G A
‘twas there that I first met sweet Molly Malone,
D A
She wheeled her wheel-barrow, Through streets broad and narrow,
D Bm G A D
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"
D A D Bm G A D
"Alive, alive, oh, Alive, alive, oh,Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh".
D A
She was a fishmonger, And sure 'twas no wonder,
D Bm G A D
For so were her father and mother before, They wheeled their barrow,
A D Bm G A D
Thru streets broad and narrow, Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"
(chorus)
Bm A
She died of a fever, And no one could save her,
D Bm G A
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
D A
Now her ghost wheels the barrow through streets broad and narrow,
D Bm G A D
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"
Nancy Whiskey (Traditional)
G Em C D G Em C D
I’m a weaver a Calton weaver I’m a rash and a rovin’ blade
C Bm C D G Em C D
I’ve got silver in me britches and I follow the weaver’s trade
G Em C D
Whiskey, whiskey, Nancy whiskey
G Em C D G
Whiskey, whiskey Nan - cy O
G Em C D G Em C D
I rode in through Glasgow city, Nancy Whiskey I chanced to smell
C Bm C D G Em C D
I went in sat down beside her seven long years I loved her well (singin’):
Chorus
G Em C D
The more I kissed her, the more I loved her,
G Em C D
the more I loved her the more she smiled
C Bm C D G Em C D
I for-got my mother’s teachin’ Nancy soon had me beguiled
Chorus
G Em C D G Em C D
I rose early in the morning to slake my thirst, it was my need
C Bm C D G Em C D
I tried to rise but I was not able, Nancy had me by the head
Chorus
G Em C D
Come all you weavers you Calton weavers
G Em C D
Come all you weavers where e’er ya be
C Bm C D
Beware of whiskey, Nancy Whiskey
G Em C D
She’ll ruin you like she ruined me (singing’)
Chorus (twice)
Irish Rover (Traditional)
C F
In the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and six,
C Bb G
We set sail from the cold quay of Cork
C F
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
C G C
For the grand City Hall in New York
C G
We’d an elegant craft, she was rigged 'fore and aft
C Am F G
And Lord, how the trade winds drove her
C F
She had twenty three masts and she stood several blasts
C G C
And they called her the Irish Rover
C F
There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee
C Bb G
There was Hogan from County Tyrone
C F
There was Johnny McGurk who was scared stiff of work
C G C
And a chap from Westmeath named Malone
C G
There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule
C Am F G
And fighting Bill Tracy from Dover
C F
And your man Mick McCann, from the banks of the Bann
C G C
Was the skipper on the Irish Rover
C F
We had one million bales of ol’ nanny goats tails
C Bb G
We had two million barrels of stone
C F
We had three million bags of the best Sligo rags
C G C
We had four million barrels of bone
C G
We had five million hogs and six million dogs
C Am F G
And seven million barrels of port-er
C F
We had eight million sides of old blind horses' hides
C G C
In the hold of the Irish Ro - ver
C F
We had sailed several years when the measles broke out
C G
And the ship lost her way in the fog (Great Fog!)
C F
And the whole of the crew was reduced down to two
C G C
'Twas myself and the captain's old dog
C G
Then the ship struck a rock; oh Lord what a shock
C Am F G
It nearly tumbled o - ver
C F (Fm)
It turned nine times around - and the poor old dog was drowned
C G C
I'm the last of the Irish Rover
Red Is The Rose
(Lyrics: Tommy Makem; music: traditional)
D F#m Em G A
Come over the hill my bonny Irish lass
D F#m G A
Come over the hill to your dar-ling
G F#m G Em A
You choose the road love and I'll make a vow
D G D A D
And I'll be your true love for-e-ver
D F#m G A
Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows
D F#m G A
Fair is the lilly of the val - ley
G F#m G Em A7
Clear is the wa - ter that flows from the Boyne
D G D A D
But my love is fair – er than a - ny
D F#m Em G A
‘Twas down by Kil - lar - ney's green woods we did stray
D F#m G A
And the moon and the stars, were a-shin-ing
G F#m G Em A7
The moon shone its rays upon her lovely hair
D G D A D
And she swore she'd be my love for - e - ver
Chorus
D F#m Em G A
It's not for the parting of my sister Kate
D F#m G A
It's not for the grief of my mo - ther
G F#m G A
It's all for the loss of my bonny Irish lass
D G D A D
That my heart is breaking for – e - ver
The Rare Old Mountain Dew (Traditional)
E A E B7
Let grasses grow and waters flow in a free and easy way,
E A E B7 E
But give me enough of that fine ol’ stuff that's made near Galway Bay.
E C#m
And policemen all, from Donegal, from Sligo and Leitrim too
E A E B7 E
We’ll give them the slip then we’ll take a sip of the rare old mountain dew.
E A E B7
At the foot of the hill there's a neat little still, where the smoke curls up to the sky;
E A E B7 E
By the smoke and the smell you can plainly tell, there's the poteen brewing nearby.
E C#m
And it fills the air, with an odor rare, that betwixt both me and you,
E A E B7 E
When home you stroll you can take a bowl or a bucket of the mountain dew.
E A E B7
Now learned men who’ve used the pen have wrote your praises high;
E A E B7 E
O sweet poteen, from Ireland green, distilled from wheat and rye.
E C#m
Throw away your pills, it’ll cure all ills whether pagan, Christian or Jew,
E A E B7 E
Take off your coat and grease your throat with the rare old mountain dew
The Love of My Life
(words and music: Mike Gallagher)
G D C G C G C D
As I walked down McCarthur one morning in May, birds in the trees children at play
G D C G C D G
My heart it was dancing with joy and delight Met the love of my life last night
G C
Will you come be my dream with your hand in my hand
G D
With the love of the Lord in your soul
G C
You will always be with me and aye, I with you
G D G
You’re the love of my life you’re my all
G D C G C G
And her eyes they were shining twas love at first sight the air fresh and warm
A D G D C G
As we danced through the night our fingers entwined and I walked hand in hand
C D G
With the prettiest girl in the land
G C
Will you come be my hope with your hand in my hand
G D
With the love of the Lord in your soul
G C
You will always be with me and aye, I with you
G D G
You’re the love of my life you’re my all
G D C G C G A D
And we married soon after one October day as summer was fading the sky it was gray
G D C G C D G
Then we romanced through Sligo, and Ol’ Donegal you’re my life, my love, you’re my all
G C
Down the lane, past the rowans my heart proudly beats
G D
With you at my side I am whole
G (G7) C
You will always be with me and aye, I with you
G D G
You’re the love of my life you’re my all
G D C G
As the years quickly melt into memories and song
C G A D
Though our arms may be weakened our love it is strong
G D C G
No matter the future that comes to our door
C D G
I’ll love you forever more
G C
Through peace and through wars and through broken-heart days
G D
As the pain and the tears take their toll
G (G7) C
You will always be with me and aye, I with you
G D
You’re the love of my life
G C
Will you come be my dream with your hand in my hand
G D
With the love of the Lord in your soul
G G7 C
You will always be with me and aye, I with you
G D G
You’re the love of my life you’re my all
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