American Old Time Song Lyrics: 33 He Got Kelly To Insult Me

Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 33

HE GOT KELLY TO INSULT ME.
Copyright, 1891, by T. B. Harms & Co.
Words and Music by B. H. Janssen.

Some time ago O'Brien and I were at a fancy ball,
We got into a little mess while up there at the hall.
Some friends of mine were very loud about Mike Kelly's grit;
It seems he had a little "scrap" and never once was hit;
O'Brien said he knew a man that Kelly couldn't beat,
The gamest man for size and weight that ever walked the street;
He asked me would I face the man; I proudly answered yes;
That happened quite some time ago, and still I'm in distress.

Chorus.
I'll never speak a word again to Michael James O'Brien;
His face I never care again to see;
I was laid up for a week, and so bad I could not speak;
He's to blame, for he got Kelly to insult me.

We all were down at Finnegan's when Kelly came along;
O'Brien said I would oblige and sing for them a song;
And while I sang of Ireland's woe in patriotic style,
Be took Mike Kelly out of doors and stayed there quite a while;
They both came in when I was through and Kelly wore a smile,
"That was the worst I ever heard, Muldoon please use a file;
Your voice is rusty, so are you "-he did not say much more;
I made a feint, he dodged, then struck, and I fell on the floor.-Chorus.

He's rather small, but very quick, and seems a trifle stout,
But just the same, though I was game, he knocked me all about;
Just twice he sent me through the door, and twice he pulled me back;
And once I saw a million stars, I got an awful whack;
At last O'Brien said enough and Kelly answered yes;
Muldoon was quite a boxer, boys, in times gone by, I guess;
They got a cart and took me home-I fainted dead away,
And did not get my senses back until the other day.-Chorus.