He was born in Ballytearim where there's little work to do, An' the longer he was livin' there the poorer still he grew; Says he till all belongin' him, "Now happy may ye be! But I'm off to find me fortune," sure he says, says he. "All the gold in Ballytearim is what's stickin' to the whin; All the crows in Ballytearim has a way o' gettin' thin." So the people did be praisin' him the year he wint away - "Troth, I'll hould ye can do it," sure they says, says they. Och, the boy 'ud still be thinkin' long, an' he across the foam, An' the two ould hearts be thinkin' long that waited for him home: But a girl that sat her lone an' whiles, her head upon her knee, Would be sighin' low for sorra, not a word says she. He won home to Ballytearim, an' the two were livin' yet, When he heard where she was lyin' now the eyes of him were wet; "Faith, here's me two fists full o' gold, an' little good to me When I'll never meet an' kiss her", sure he says, says he. Then the boy from Ballytearim set his face another road, An' whatever luck has followed him was never rightly knowed: But still it's truth I'm tellin' ye - or may I never sin! - All the gold in Ballytearim is what's stickin' to the whin.
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Authorship:
- by Agnes Shakespeare Higginson (1864 - 1955), as Moira O'Neill [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "The Boy from Ballytearim", op. 174 no. 6 (1920), published 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs from "The Glens of Antrim", no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 239