Yes, Terry - please do obtain the lyrics and post them, and try to find out whatever you can about the history of the song. It's possible that the song you heard was Buffy Saint-Marie's Johnny Be Fair (click), which we already have - it sounds very Irish. If it's anything else, I'd sure like to see the lyrics.
This song must have an origin farther back than the 1940 poem by Robert W. Service, but that's the earliest version we've been able to verify so far.
-Joe Offer-