Miscellaneous writings of the late Dr. Maginn :: :: University of Virginia Library

They may rail at the city where I was first born,
But it's there they've the whiskey, and butter, and pork,
An' a nate little spot for to walk in each morn,
They calls it Daunt's Square, and the city is Cork!
The Square has two sides, why, one east, and one west;
And convanient's the ragion of frolic and spree,
Where salmon, drisheens, and beef-steaks are cook'd best,
Och! Fishamble's the Aiden for you, love, and me.

II

If you want to behold the sublime and the beauteous,
Put your toes in your brogues, and see sweet Blarney Lane,
Where the parents and childer is comely and duteous,
And “dry lodgin” both rider and beast entertain;
In the cellars below dines the slashin' young fellows,
What comes with the butter from distant Tralee;
While the landlady, chalking the score on the bellows,
Sings, Cork is an Aiden for you, love, and me.

III

Blackpool is another sweet place of that city,
Where pigs, twigs, and wavers, they all grow together,
With its small little tanyards—och, more is the pity—
To trip the poor beasts to convert them to leather!
Farther up to the east, is a place great and famous,
It is called Mellow Lane—antiquaries agree
That it holds the Shibbeen which once held King Shamus:—
O! Cork is an Aiden for you, love, and me.

IV

Then go back to Daunt's Bridge, though you'll think it is quare
That you can't see the bridge—faix! you ne'er saw the like
Of that bridge, nor of one-sided Buckingham Square,
Nor the narrow Broad lane, that leads up to the Dyke!
Where turning his wheel sits that Saint “Holy Joe,”
And numbrellas are made of the best quality,
And young vargints sing “Colleen das croothin a mo”
And Cork is an Aiden for you, love, and me.

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V

When you gets to the Dyke, there's a beautiful prospect
Of a long gravel walk between two rows of trees;
On one side, with a beautiful southern aspect,
Is Blair's Castle, that trembles above in the breeze!
Far off to the west lies the lakes of Killarney,
Which some hills intervening prevents you to see;
But you smell the sweet wind from the wild groves of Blarney—
Och! Cork is the Aiden for you, love, and me!

VI

Take the road to Glanmire, the road to Blackrock, or
The sweet Boreemannah, to charm your eyes,
If you doubt what is Wise, take a dram of Tom Walker,
And if you're a Walker, toss off Tommy Wise!
I give you my word that they're both lads of spirit;
But if a “raw-chaw, ” with your gums don't agree,
Beamish, Crawford, and Lane, brew some porter of merit,
Tho' Potheen is the nectar for you, love, and me.

VII

Oh, long life to you, Cork, with your pepper-box steeple,
Your girls, your whiskey, your curds, and sweet whey!
Your hill of Glanmire, and shops where the people
Gets decent new clothes down beyont the Coal Quay.
Long life to sweet Fair Lane, its pipers and jigs,
And to sweet Sunday's well, and the banks of the Lee,
Likewise to your coort-house, where judges in wigs
Sing, Cork is an Aiden for you, love, and me!