LOUGH ERNE SHORE

One morning as I went a-fowling
Bright Phoebus adorned the plain;
'Twas down by the shores of Lough Erne,
I met with this wonderful dame.
Her voice was so sweet and so pleasing,
These beautiful notes she did sing;
The innocent fowl of the forest
Their love unto her they did bring.

It being the first time I saw her,
My heart it did leap with surprise;
I thought that she could be no mortal,
But an angel who fell from the skies.
Her hair it resembled gold tresses,
Her skin was as white as the snow;
And her cheeks were as red as the roses
That bloom around Lough Erne shore.

When I found that my love was eloping,
These words unto her I did say:
"O take me to your habitation,
For Cupid has led me astray."
"For ever I'll keep the commandments;
They say that it is the best plan.
Fair maids who do yield to men's pleasure,
The Scripture does say they are wrong."

"Oh Mary, don't accuse me of weakness,
For treachery I do disown.
I'll make you a lady of honour,
If with me this night you'll come home.
O had I the lamp of great Aladdin,
His rings and his genie, that's more,
I would part with them all for to gain you,
And live upon Lough Erne shore."

Paddy Tunney's version, taken from his book The Stone Fiddle.  A midi of the tune goes to Alan's Mudcat Midi Site.

Malcolm^^