BALLINASLOE FAIR

When I was a young lad my dad said to me,
'Son, come along to the horse fair with me,
Up in the morning, away we will go,
And we'll take the long road to Ballinasloe'.

We set out at daybreak in the cool October air,
We passed the Travelling People all going to the fair,
We then went though Kilreekil, it wasn't far to go,
To reach the town of Aughrim that made history long ago.

And as we jogged through Brackenagh on the outskirts of the Fair,
We then went down through Dunlo Street into the Market Square,
It was here we saw the horse dealers busy at their trade,
There was horses by the hundred, of every hue and shade.

CHORUS: There was grass horses, race horses, cobs and hunters too,
And Connemara ponies but they were very few,
We heard a ballad singer, singing songs of long ago,
For it's here they all had gathered for the Fair of Ballinasloe.

And as we moved around the square, we saw the famous ring,
It's there they were performing the crowning of the King,
We heard him make his speeches and he seemed very proud,
As he stepped down from the platform, to the greetings of the crowd.

But times have changed a bit today, the system now exists,
He's chosen now by voting instead of by the fist,
But Travelling's People's practice in days long, long ago,
Was to fight it out in battle for the King of Ballinasloe.

And then to Maggie May's we went for a jar or two of stout,
we heard the music playing and the people danced about
The women in their Galway shawls, the men in hobnail boots,
The atmosphere was jolly with the fiddles and the flutes.

And then my father said, 'we've had enough to drink,
So hop into th'old ass and cart, we'll head for home I think'.
We set out on the road again, 'twas far away to go,
But I never will forget about the Fair of Ballinasloe.

CHORUS

Written by Patrick Christopher Farrell. Transcribed from a recording by Brendan Shine.

[Missing line inserted by a JoeClone]