The Thirty Foot Trailer

The Thirty Foot Trailer - The Dubliners

The old ways are changing you cannot deny

The day of the traveller is over

There's nowhere to go and there's nowhere to bide

So farewell to the life of the rover

Goodbye to the tent and the old caravan

To the tinker the gypsy the traveling man

And goodbye to the thirty foot trailer

Farewell to the can't and the Romani tongue

Farewell to the Romani talking

The buying and selling the old fortune telling

The knock on the door and the hawking

Goodbye to the tent and the old caravan

To the tinker the gypsy the traveling man

And goodbye to the thirty foot trailer

Farewell to the besoms of heather and broom

Farewell to the creels and the basket

The folks of today they would far sooner pay

For a thing that's been made out of plastic

Goodbye to the tent and the old caravan

To the tinker the gypsy the traveling man

And goodbye to the thirty foot trailer

The old ways are passing and soon they'll be gone

For progress is aye a big factor

It's sent to afflict us and when they evict us

They'll tow us away with a tractor

Goodbye to the tent and the old caravan

To the tinker the gypsy the traveling man

And goodbye to the thirty foot trailer

Farewell to the pony the cob and the mare

The reins and the harness are idle

You don't need a strap when you're breaking up scraps

So farewell to the bit and the bridle

Goodbye to the tent and the old caravan

To the tinker the gypsy the traveling man

And farewell to the thirty foot trailer

Farewell to the fields where we've sweated and toiled

At pulling and hauling and lifting

They'd soon have machines and the traveling queens

And their menfolk had better get shifting

Goodbye to the tent and the old caravan

To the tinker the gypsy the traveling man

And goodbye to the thirty foot trailer

You've got to move fast to keep up with the times

For these days a man cannot dander

There's a bylaw to say you must be on your way

And another to say you can't wander