On the fourth of july, 1806 <br />We set sail from the sweet cove of cork <br />We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks <br />For the grand city hall in new york <br />'twas a wonderful craft <br />She was rigged fore and aft <br />And oh, how the wild wind drove her <br />She stood several blasts <br />She had twenty seven masts <br />And they called her the irish rover <br /><br />We had one million bags of the best sligo rags <br />We had two million barrels of stone <br />We had three million sides of old blind horses hides <br />We had four million barrels of bones <br />We had five million hogs <br />And six million dogs <br />Seven million barrels of porter <br />We had eight million bails of old nanny-goats' tails <br />In the hold of the irish rover <br /><br />There was awl mickey coote <br />Who played hard on his flute <br />When the ladies lined up for a set <br />He was tootin' with skill <br />For each sparkling quadrille <br />Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet <br />With his smart witty talk <br />He was cock of the walk <br />And he rolled the dames under and over <br />They all knew at a glance <br />When he took up his stance <br />That he sailed in the irish rover <br /><br />There was barney mcgee <br />From the banks of the lee <br />There was hogan from county tyrone <br />There was johnny mcgurk <br />Who was scared stiff of work <br />And a man from westmeath called malone <br />There was slugger o'toole <br />Who was drunk as a rule <br />And fighting bill treacy from dover <br />And your man, mick maccann <br />From the banks of the bann <br />Was the skipper of the irish rover <br /><br />We had sailed seven years <br />When the measles broke out <br />And the ship lost it's way in the fog <br />And that whale of a crew <br />Was reduced down to two <br />Just myself and the captain's old dog <br />Then the ship struck a rock <br />Oh lord! what a shock <br />The bulkhead was turned right over <br />Turned nine times around <br />And the poor old dog was drowned <br />And the las of the irish rover
