Oh I am a little beggarman, and begging I have been,
For three score and ten years in this little isle of green,
Im known along the Liffey from the Basin to the Zoo,
And everybody knows me by the name of Johnny Dhu,
Of all the trades in Ireland the begging is the best,
For when a man is tired he can sit him down rest,
He can beg for his dinner, he has nothing else to do,
But to slip around the corner with his old rig-a-doo.
2. I slept in a barn one night in Currabawn,
A shocking wet night it was but I slept until the dawn,
There were hole in the roof and the rain drops coming through,
And the rats and the cats were all playing tink-a-boo,
Who should I waken but the women of the house,
With her white-spotted apron and her fine gingham blouse,
She began to get excited and all I said was boo,
Sure don't be afraid at all, tis only Johnny Dhu.
3. I met a little girl when a-walking out one day,
"Good morrow, little flaxen-haired girl," I did say;
"Good morrow, little beggarman, and how do you do?
With your rags and your tags and your old rig-a-doo.
"Ill buy a pair of leggings, and a collar and a tie,
And a nice young lady Ill go courting by-and-bye
;Ill buy a pair of goggles and Ill colour them with blue,
And an old-fashioned lady I will make her too.
4. So all along the high road with my bag upon my back,
Over the fields with my bulging heavy sack,
With holes in my shoes and my toes a-peeping through,
Singing skill-a ma-lick-a-doodle with my old rig-a-doo,
Oh! I must be going to bed, for its getting late at night,
The fires all raked and now tis out the light,
For now youve heard the story of my old rig-a-doo,
So good-bye and God be with you, from old Johnny Dhu.
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