American Old Time Song Lyrics: 39 An Irish Girls Opinion
Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 39
AN IRISH GIRL'S OPINION.
Sung by Hiss Nellie Farrell.
An Irish girl, and proud of it, a word I'd like to say
About the state of Erin's isle, my native place, to-day;
And those with Irish blood In them will understand me best,
And feel for those poor peasants who are starving in the westÂRack-rented, oft evicted, and turned out in the snow;
The sky their only shelter, not knowing where to go.
'Tis scenes like these that shake our faith in England and its throne;
Oh! is the good time coming when the land shall be our own?
Chorus.
For John Bull lives in England, Taffy lives in Wales,
Sandy lives in Scotland, and weathers all the gales;
Paddy fights for England, as everybody knows,
Then give to him old Ireland where the shamrock grows.
I've seen the big ship crowded and ready for to start.
I've seen the aged mother from her only darling part,
I've seen the bitter tears that fell upon the big ship's deck,
From a soldier-lad whose new-made bride was clinging 'round his neck.
In days gone by, they tell us, in story-book And rhyme,
The hangman and his rope were very busy all the time;
But, thanks to Dun O'Connell, whose picture you have seen,
There's not a pow'r can hang us now for wearing of the green.-Chorus.
The Scotchman loves the thistle, as everybody knows,
He'd fight And die to save it and the land wherein it grows;
It's woe betide the man who of the thistle bad would speak,
And so it is with Taffy and the land that grows the leek.
Old England is the master of all her foreign foes;
The sweetest flower on earth is the darling little rose.
They all may love their emblems, but not one nation can
Erase the shamrock from the heart of every Irishman.- Chorus.
