Nell Flaherty’s Drake

[Verse 1]
My name it is Nell and quite candid I tell
I come from Cootehill I will never deny
I had a large drake and the truth for to speak
My oul' grandmother left me and she goin' to die
It was wholesome and sound and it weighed twenty pounds
And the universe round I would roam for its sake
Bad luck to the robber, be he drunk or sober
That's murdered Nell Flaherty's beautiful drake

[Verse 2]
His neck it was green and most fit to be seen
He was fit for a queen of the highеst degree
His body was white and it would you delight
Hе was plump, fat and heavy, and brisk as a bee
The dear little fellow, his legs they were yellow
He could fly like a swallow or dive like a hake
But some dirty oul' savage, to grease his white cabbage
Has murdered Nell Flaherty's beautiful drake

[Verse 3]
May his sow never pig, may his spade never dig
May each nit in his wig be as large as a snail
May his turkey ne'er hatch, may his door have no latch
May his roof have no thatch, may the rats eat his kale
May all the oul' fairies from Cork to Tipp'rary
Dip him snug and airy in some pond or lake
Where the eel and the trout may all dine on the snout
Of the monster that's murdered Nell Flaherty's drake

[Verse 4]
May his pig never hunt, may his cat never hunt
May the ghosts e'er haunt him the dead of the night
May his ass never bray, may his hens never lay
May his goat fly away like an oul' paper kite
May he swell with the gout 'til his grinders fall out
May he roar, bawl and shout, with a horrid toothache
May his temples wear horns and all his toes corns
The monster that murdered Nell Flaherty's drake

[Verse 5]
Now the only good news that I have to diffuse
Is that long Peter Hughes and blind piper McPeake
And buck-tooth Bob Hanson and snub-nosed Bob Janson
They each had a grandson of my darlin' drake
Me Bertie had dozens of nephews and cousins
And one I must get or me poor heart will break
For to keep my mind easy for fear I go crazy
That ends the whole story of Nell Flaherty's drake