RARE OUL' TIMES, THE
Based on songs and stories, heroes of renown
Are the passing tales and glories, that once was Dublin town
The hallowed halls and houses, the haunting children's rhymes
That once was Dublin city in the rare old times
Chorus:
Ring a-ring a-Rosie, as the light declines
I remember Dublin city in the rare oul' times
My name it is Sean Dempsey, as Dublin as can be
Born hard and late in Pimlico, in a house that ceased to be
By trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancy
Like my house that fell to progress, my trade's a memory
And I courted Peggy Dignan, as pretty as you please
A rogue and child of Mary, from the rebel Liberties
I lost her to a student chap, with skin as black as coal
When he took her off to Birmingham, she took away my soul
The years have made me bitter, tha gargle dims my brain
'cause Dublin keeps on changing, and nothing seems the same
The Pillar and the Met have gone, the Royal long since pulled down
As the great unyielding concrete, makes a city of my town
Fare thee fell sweet Anna Liffey, I can no longer stay
And watch the new glass cages, that spring up along the Quay
My mind's too full of memories, too old to hear new chimes
I'm part of what was Dublin, in the rare old times
Chorus
