The Irish Rover

The Irish Rover - The Dubliners

On the 4th of July, eighteen hundred and six

We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork

We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks

For the grand city hall in New York

T'was a wonderful craft, she was rigged fore and aft

And oh how the wild wind drove her

She had several blasts, she had 27 masts

And called her the Irish Rover

We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags

We had two million barrels of stone

We had three million sides of blind horses hides

We had four million barrels of bone

We had five million hogs,

We had six million dogs

We had seven million barrels of porter

We had eight million bails of old nanny goats' tails

In the hold of the Irish Rover

There was old Mickey Coote who played hard on his flute

When the ladies lined up for a set

He was tooting with skill For each sparking quadrille

Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet

With his smart witty talk he was cock of the walk

He rolled the dames under and over

when he took up his stance

They all knew at a glance

That he sailed on the Irish Rover

There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee

There was Hogan from County Tyrone

There was Charlie McGurk who was scared stiff of work

And a chap from Westmeathe named Malone

There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule

And fighting Bill Tracy from Dover

And a man Mick McCann from the banks of the Bann

Was the skipper of the Irish Rover

We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out

And the ship lost its way in the fog

And the whale of a crew was reduced down to two

Just myself and the Captain's old dog

Then the ship struck a rock, oh, Lord what a shock

The bulkhead turned right over

Turned nine times around and the old dog was drowned

And I'm the last of the Irish Rover