RED-HAIRED MARY

As I was going to the fair at Dingle
One fine morning last July
When going down the road before me,
A red-haired girl I chance to spy.
Well I went up to her, says I, "Young lady,
Me donkey, he will carry two;"
And she looked at me, her eyes a-twinkle,
and cheeks they were a rosy hue.

"Well I thank you kindly, sir," she answered,
And then she tossed her bright hair,
"Now seein' that you've got your donkey,
I will ride with you to the Dingle Fair."
But when we reached the fair at Dingle,
I took her hand for to say good-bye,
When a tinkerman stepped up beside me
And he struck me right in my left eye!

Chorus:
"Keep your hands off red-haired Mary!
Her and I are to be wed.
We're seein' the priest this very morning,
And tonight we lie in a marriage bed."

Now I was feeling kind of peevish,
And me poor old eye was sad and sore,
So I tapped him lightly with me hobnails,
And he flew back through Tim Murphy's door!

Then a policeman, he came 'round the corner,
And he told me I had broke the law.
Then me donkey kicked him in the ankle,
And he fell down and broke his jaw.

Now this red-haired girl, she kept on smiling.
She said, "Young sir, I'll go with you instead.
We'll forget the priest this very morning,
And tonight we'll sleep in Murphy's shed."