Limerick Rake

Lyrics

[Verse 1] I am a young fellow that's easy and bold In Castletown conners I'm very well known In Newcastle West I spent many a note With Kitty and Judy and Mary Me parents rebuked me for being such a rake And spending my time in such frolicsome ways I ne'er could forget the good nature of Jane Agus fágaimíd siúd mar atá sé [Verse 2] My parents had reared me to shake and to mow To plough and to harrow, to reap and to sow Me heart being too airy to drop it too low I set out on a high speculation On paper and parchment they thought me to write In Euclid and Grammar they opened my eyes And in Multiplication in truth I was bright Agus fágaimíd siúd mar atá sé [Verse 3] If I chance for to go to the town of Rathkeale The girls all round me do flock on the square Some offer me apples and others sweet cake And treats me unknown to their parents There is one from Askeaton and one from the Pike And another from Arda, my heart was beguiled Though being from the mountains her stockings are white And I'd love to be tied in her garters [Verse 4] To quarrel for riches I ne'er was inclined For the greatest of misers, they must leave all behind But I'll purchase a cow that will never run dry And I'll milk her be twisting her horn John Damer of Shronel had plenty of gold And Lord Devonshire's treasures are twenty times more But he's laid on their backs amidst nettles and stones Agus fágaimíd siúd mar atá sé [Verse 5] The old cow could be milked without clover or grass For she's pampered with barley, sweet corn and the hops She'd be warm, she'd be stout, she'd be free in the paps And she'll milk without spancil or halter The man that will drink it, he'd cock his caubeen And if anyone laughs we'll have wigs in the green And the feeble old hag, she'd get supple and free Agus fágaimíd siúd mar atá sé [Verse 6] Now, there's some say I'm foolish and some say I'm wise Though being fond of the women I think is no crime Sure, the son of King David, he had ten thousand wives And his wisdom was highly recorded I'll till a good garden and live at me ease And each woman and child could partake of the same If there's war in the cabin, themselves they could blame Agus fágaimíd siúd mar atá sé [Verse 7] But now for the future I think I'll get wise And I'll marry all those women who acted so kind Aye, I'd marry them all on the morrow by and by If the clergy agreed to the bargain And then when I'd be old and my soul be at rest All those children and wives they could keen at me wake Aye, they'd all gather round and they'd offer a prayers To the Lord for the soul of their father