The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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Dennis Delany.
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
Dennis Delany.
In sweet Tipperary, the pride of the throng,
I have danced a good jig, and have sung a good song;
On the green, as I caper'd, I scarce bent the grass—
To a bottle a friend—and no foe to a lass.
At hurling, my fellow could never be found,
For whoever I jostled soon came to the ground;
And the girls all swore that they ne'er could meet any
Could tickle their fancy like Dennis Delany.
I have danced a good jig, and have sung a good song;
On the green, as I caper'd, I scarce bent the grass—
To a bottle a friend—and no foe to a lass.
At hurling, my fellow could never be found,
For whoever I jostled soon came to the ground;
And the girls all swore that they ne'er could meet any
Could tickle their fancy like Dennis Delany.
364
CHORUS.
With my whack about, see it out, Dennis my jewel,Och! why will you leave us? How can you be cruel?
Paddy Whack may go trudge it, and Murtoch O'Blaney,
We'll part with them all for dear Dennis Delany.
Young Sheelah O'Shannon was so fond of me,
That whenever we met we could never agree;
Says I, “My dear Sheelah, we'll soon end the fray,
For no longer in sweet Tipperary I'll stay.”
When the girls all found I was going to leave them,
They swore that from death the world could not save them;
“Oh, we'll leave all our friends, though ever so many,
If you'll let us go with you, swaite Dennis Delany!”
That whenever we met we could never agree;
Says I, “My dear Sheelah, we'll soon end the fray,
For no longer in sweet Tipperary I'll stay.”
When the girls all found I was going to leave them,
They swore that from death the world could not save them;
“Oh, we'll leave all our friends, though ever so many,
If you'll let us go with you, swaite Dennis Delany!”
With my whack about, &c.
To the road then I went, and I trudged it along,
And, by way of being silent, I lilted a song;
“Hey for Dublin!” says I, “where I'll see the fine lasses,
Get married, and drink, and ne'er mind how time passes.”
But when I arrived, and found every lady
Short-waisted—thinks I, They are married already:
“By my shoul, now,” says I, “marriage here is the fashion,
To breed young recruits for defence of the nation.”
And, by way of being silent, I lilted a song;
“Hey for Dublin!” says I, “where I'll see the fine lasses,
Get married, and drink, and ne'er mind how time passes.”
But when I arrived, and found every lady
Short-waisted—thinks I, They are married already:
“By my shoul, now,” says I, “marriage here is the fashion,
To breed young recruits for defence of the nation.”
With my whack about, &c.
To the grand panorama that every one talks of,
Away then I goes and immediately walks off;
But I were astonished, as much as e'er man was,
To see a sea-fight on an ocean of canvas.
But some were a-weeping, and some were a-wailing,
Where Dublin once stood to see ships now a-sailing;
But what in my mind made it still seem the stranger,
Though I stood in the midst, I stood out of all danger.
Away then I goes and immediately walks off;
But I were astonished, as much as e'er man was,
To see a sea-fight on an ocean of canvas.
But some were a-weeping, and some were a-wailing,
Where Dublin once stood to see ships now a-sailing;
But what in my mind made it still seem the stranger,
Though I stood in the midst, I stood out of all danger.
With my whack about, &c.
Then to see a fine play, which I ne'er saw before,
To Crow Street I went, without three or four more;
And up stairs I walk'd, for to see things the better,
And bought a play-bill, though I knew not a letter.
But the crowd was so great, and the players so funny,
I laugh'd more, I'm sure, than the worth of my money;
But the boys went all mad, and I maddest of any,
When all the musicians play'd Dennis Delany.
To Crow Street I went, without three or four more;
And up stairs I walk'd, for to see things the better,
And bought a play-bill, though I knew not a letter.
But the crowd was so great, and the players so funny,
I laugh'd more, I'm sure, than the worth of my money;
But the boys went all mad, and I maddest of any,
When all the musicians play'd Dennis Delany.
With their whack about, &c.
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |