Here we go:

MY OLD CAUBEEN

("Wexford Ballads" Paddy Berry, 1982)

There's a relic in our family that's been handed down for years
A relic now fast going to decay
But it's treasured all the more that old caubeen that was worn
By my ancestors, now aged and turning grey
It could a tale relate of the dead of '98
Of the troubles and the hardships it has seen
Of the struggles and the fights on the hills on bitter nights
Had you only got a tongue, my old caubeen

Chorus
But you're tattered old and torn , many years you have been worn
Though faded now, far better days you have seen
You're the family relic too, times have changed since you were new
But I'll always treasure you, my old caubeen

You've seen many an Irishman locked up in a prison van
And others hung high on the gallows tree
Brave patriots now dead whose Irish blood was shed
To make our nation far more grand and free
The terror of the nights when we fought to gain our rights,
Evictions and the land grabbed from the weak
In those cruel days of fate when our sons did emigrate
You could tell us all if you could only speak

Now I'll tell you as a friend that all things must have an end
And our destination we are reaching fast
But I'll treat you with respect and I'll always recollect
The happy days that you've seen in the past
Before you fade away I hope there'll dawn the day
When our parliament we'll have in College Green
I hope you'll live and see dear old Ireland once more free
Then you can die with me my old caubeen

Paddy adds:
Made famous by the late Robert Whelan, Libgate, Kilmore and later by Leo Carty, Broadway. Its origin is not known but I was told by a man from Wexford town that his father heard it in the Fenian times.



Note:
An air is given, which I have not yet tried to decipher!

Regards