The irish rover

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1. On the fourth of July eighteen hundred and six
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we set sail from the sweet Cobh of Cork,
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we were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
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for the grand city hall in New York.
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'Twas a wonderful craft, she was rigged fore and aft,
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and oh, how the wild wind drove her,
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she could stand a great blast, she had twenty seven masts,
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and they called her the Irish Rover.

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2. We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags,
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we had two million barrels of stones,
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we had three million sides of old blind horses hides,
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we had four million barrels of bones.
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We had five million hogs, six million dogs,
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seven million barrels of porter,
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we had eight million bales of old nanny goat tails
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in the hold of the Irish Rover.


















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3. There was awl Mickey Coote who played hard on his flute,
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when the ladies lined up for his set,
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he was tootin' with skill for each sparkling quadrille,
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though the dancers were fluther'd and bet.
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With his sparse witty talk he was cock of the walk,
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as he rolled the dames under and over,
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they all knew at a glance when he took up his stance,
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and he sailed in the Irish Rover.

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4. There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee,
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there was Hogan from County Tyrone,
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there was Johnny McGuirk who was scared stiff of work,
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and a chap from Westmeath called Malone.
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There was Slugger O'Toole, who was drunk as a rule,
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and fighting Bill Tracy from Dover
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and your man Mick McCann from the banks of the Bann
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was the skipper of the Irish Rover.

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5. We had sailed seven years when the measels broke out,
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and our ship lost it's way in the fog,
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then the whole of the crew was reduced down to two,
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just myself and the captain's old dog.
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Then the ship struck a rock, oh Lord, what a shock,
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the boat, it was flipped right over
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turned nine times around and the poor old dog was drowned,
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I'm the last of the Irish Rover.