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by Agnes Shakespeare Higginson (1864 - 1955), as Moira O'Neill

The Sailor Man
Language: English 
Sure a terrible time I was out o' the way,
	Over the sea, over the sea,
Till I come back to Ireland one sunny day,
	Betther for me, betther for me.
The first time me foot got the feel o' the ground
	I was strollin' along in an Irish city,
That hasn't its aquil the world around
	For the air that is sweet an' the girls that are pretty.

Light on their feet now they pass'd me an' sped,
	Give ye me word, give ye me word,
Every girl wid a turn o' the head
	Just like a bird, just like a bird;
An' the lashes so thick round their beautiful eyes
	Shinin' to tell you it's fair time o' day wid them,
Back in my heart wid a kind o' surprise
	I think how the Irish girls has the way wid them!

Och man alive! But it's little ye know
	That never was there, never was there.
Look where ye like for them, long may ye go -
	What do I care? What do I care?
Plenty as blackberries where will ye find
	Rare pretty girls not by two nor by three o' them?
Only just there where they grow, d'ye mind
	Still like the blackberries, more than ye see o' them.

Long, long away an' no matther how far,
	'Tis the girls that I miss, the girls that I miss:
Women are round ye wherever ye are
	Not worth a kiss, not worth a kiss.
Over in Ireland many's the one -
	Well do I know, that has nothin' to say wid them -
Sweeter than anythin' undher the sun.
	Och, 'tis the Irish girls has the way wid them!

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Text 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 Sailor Man", op. 174 no. 2 (1920), published 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs from "The Glens of Antrim", no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "The Sailor Man", published 1927 [ low voice and piano ], from Ten Songs for Low Voice, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 279

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