The Irish Rover, a well-known Irish song, and a stalwart for every pub sing-song when the spirits are high and the strange Guinness beer has flown. And it’s a song about a dog. Or a ship OR something … maybe they just made up the words as they went along? Possible, as there are multiple versions of The Irish Rover’s lyrics, none of them are quite canonical. Here is a version. And you will find some comments about the song below the lyrics.
The Irish Rover – The Lyrics
In the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred six
We set sail from Cork’s Cobh Fair
we were tied too far
with a load of bricks
for the New York City Hall Fair.
We had a beautiful boat
it was rigged from bow to stern,
And God how the trade winds drove her
while resisting the blast,
it had twenty-three masts
and we called her an Irish Rover.
Chorus : Let it go
well, my true friend,
I will go away from you
And I’ll swear by the stars above
Forever I will be faithful;
But when I part it will break my heart
and when the trip is over,
I will go back to tour the true irish style to
aboard the Irish Rover.
Donoghue and Mac Hugh
They came from Red Waterloo.
And O’Neill and Mac Flail of the Rhine.
There was Ludd and Mac Gludd.
From the land of the flood
Pat Malone, Mike Mac Gowan and O’Brien,
There was Barney McGee.
On the banks of the Lee,
There was Hogan from County Tyrone.
And a guy named McGurk,
I had a lot of work
And a guy from Westmeath named Mellone.
Choir
There was Slugger O’Toole,
that he was drunk as a rule
and he was fighting Bill Casey of Dover.
There was Dooley from Clare,
that he was strong as a bear
and she was the captain of the Irish Rover.
Bould Mac Gee, Mac Entee
and the great Neill of Tigree
and Michael O’Dowd of Dover
and a man from Turkestan
He sure was called Kid Mac Cann
he was the cook of the Irish Rover.
Choir
We had a million bags
Of the best Sligo rags,
We had two million barrels of bones
We had three million sides
From old skins of blind horses
We had four million bags full of stones.
We had five million dogs
and six million pigs,
and seven million bundles of clovers.
We had eight million bales
of old kid tails,
in the hold of the Irish Rover.
Choir
Or we sail seven years
and the measles broke out,
and the ship was lost in the fog.
And the whole crew will
reduced to two
Just me and the boss’s old dog.
And we hit a rock
With a terrible fright
And God, she rolled over.
He turned around nine times;
And the old dog drowned
. I am the last of the Irish Rover.
Choir
The Irish Rover – What is it about?
Well, obviously, it is a historical event, a terrible maritime tragedy. But the storyteller could have improved the plot here and there. Or confused.
First things first: despite the repeated mention of canines in the song, and Rover is a favorite dog name here, “The Irish Rover” is actually the name of a ship. Who sailed with bricks for New York, the cargo destined for the construction of City Hall. Which, in the given year (1806) was actually in the long planning process, but the actual construction only started in 1810. So we have a case of premature bricks … and it’s questionable if they were all imported. modes.
That said, the post-loading list renders any speculation pointless, as eight million bales of goattail would not have been a very profitable venture. And it’s hard to fit into a cargo ship of the time.
On the other hand, the Irish Rover had 23 masts, right? Another great story, honestly, there were never ships with 23 masts in all Western seamanship, and even Chinese Admiral Zheng He’s legendary treasure ships “only” had nine masts. It’s no wonder the crew included a fellow named Kid Mac Cann from Turkestan. As the student said when the teacher pointed out that a double positive does not make a negative: «Yes, of course …»
Who wrote the Irish rover?
That is highly debatable… however the lyrics are occasionally attributed to a JM Crofts, of whom nothing else is known.
The Irish Rover – Recommended Recordings
If there is a seminal recording of The Irish Rover, it must be the one made by The Dubliners in collaboration with The Pogues. This was released on The Dubliners’ 1987 album “25 Years Celebration.”
