| lyric | 1. I am a little beggarman and begging I have been,
for three score years in thie little isle of green.
I’m knpowing along the Liffey from the Basin to the Zoo,
and ev’rybody calls me by the name of Johnny Dhuof
all trades agoing, sure the begging is the best
for when a man is tired he can sit him down and rest.
He can beg for his dinner, he has nothing else to do
but to slip around the corner with his ould riga doo.
2. I slept in a barn one night in Currabawn,
A shocking wet night it was but I slept until the dawn,
There were holes In the roof and the raindrops coming through,
And the rats and the cats were all playing peek-a-boh,
Who did lwaken but the woman of the house,
With her white spotted apron and her line gingham blouse,
She began to get excited and all I said was: “Bohl”,
Sure, don’t be afraid at all, “’tis only Johnny Dhul”
3. I met a little girl when a-walking out one day,
“Good morning, little flaxen haired girl” I did say,
“Good morning, little beggarman and how do you do,
With your rags und your tags and your ould rigadoo?”,
“I’ll buy a pair of leggings and acollar and tie,
And a nice young lady I’ll go courting by and by,
I’ll buy a pair of goggles and I’ll colour them with blue,
And an old fashioned lady I will make her too.”
4. So all along the highroad with my bag upon my back,
Over the fields with my bulging heavy sack,
With holes in my shoes and my toes are peeping through,
Singing: “Skin-a-ma-Iink—doodle with me ould rigadoo”,
Oh, I must be going to bed, for it’s getting late at night,
The fire is all raked and now ’tis out the light,
For now you’ve heared the story of me ould rigadoo,
So goodbye and God be with you, from old Johnny Dhu. |