ADD: The Mickey Dam

Subject: I'm an honest Irish laborer
From:
Date: 19 Mar 97 - 01:16 AM

I'm looking for the words to a song that goes something like this:

I'm an honest Irish laborer And I come from the county Clare Once we had a famine there was nothin' left to spare And I had to sell me donkey And me famous billygoat The very next day I did away to Glasgow took the boat

Chorus:

I'm as strong as any lion I was raised on eggs and ham I'm the terror of all fighting men Around the mickey dam

Subject: RE: I'm an honest Irish laborer
From: belter
Date: 19 Mar 97 - 08:42 AM

This sounds very familiar, but I'm having trouble figuring out what it reminds me of. It reminds me a little of MORRISSEY AND THE BLACK wich is a soung about an Irish boxer That's the title to be found in the DT although the way I heard it he was fighting a Rusion. Also it something about it makes me think of Tam O'Lin if only the metter. It also sounds a lot like a soung I heard were an Irish man goes to londun, is told by a lockal that the ass standing in the street is his brother and he should stop and talk to it. He spits tabacco in its ear it goes wild and he gets arested, but gets sprung when his clever excuse ammuses the judge. could any of those be what your looking for.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MICKEY DAM
From:
Date: 20 Mar 97 - 08:23 PM

THE MICKEY DAM

I'm an honest Irish labourer and I come from the County Clare.
Once I had a farm there with nothin' much to spare.

But I had to sell me donkey and me famous billy goat,
And with the money I received, to Glasgow took the boat.

On the mornin' when I landed there, before me hair got dry,
I was started in the Mickey Dam in a place they call Mull Guy.

The ganger that I started with, they called him John the Mouse,
And the very first day that I was there, at me he'd start to grouse.

Well, I quickly surprised him and I said, "You little brat,
I'll tie a string around your neck and throw you to the cat."

For I'm as strong as any lion. I was reared on eggs and ham.
I'm a terror to all fighting men 'round the Mickey Dam.

Well, this roused the mouse's temper and at me he made to jump.
He swore he'd paralyze me with the handle of a pump.

But I quickly surprised him; I grabbed him by the throat,
And I shook that little monkey till the tail fell off his coat.

For I'm as strong as any lion. I was reared on eggs and ham.
I'm a terror to all fightin' men 'round the Mickey Dam.

Well, the big hotels we're stopping at, they call them navvy huts,
And the bugs and fleas that are in the bed are as big as coconuts.

And on Saturday nights, when I get there, I stand behind the door,
And as they come out, one by one, I bash them to the floor.

For I'm as strong as any lion. I was reared on eggs and ham.
I'm a terror to all fighting men 'round the Mickey Dam.

For I'm as strong as any lion. I was reared on eggs and ham.
I'm a terror to all fighting men 'round the Mickey Dam.

Subject: RE: I'm an honest Irish laborer
From: Scabby Douglas
Date: 28 Jun 02 - 10:08 AM

Minor correction to spelling above - Mull Guy - is indeed how it is pronounced - but it it s spelled Milngavie I know, I know...

Means "Gavie's( or Gavin's) Mill"

Good song..

Cheers

Steven

Subject: RE: I'm an honest Irish laborer
From: Grab
Date: 28 Jun 02 - 11:34 AM

Re that placename, it used to be known as a rather upper-middle-class snobby kind of place, hence the rhyme (from memory, so excuse errors :-)

But I have heard that in Mullguy
The folks are quite reserved and shy
And every household has a slavey
Who's taught to call the place Milngavie.

Still, from a nation that spells Kerkoobree "Kirkcudbright", what would you expect? And us English are no better, with Leicester, Thames, etc... :-)

Graham.

(PS. That's "Lester" and "Tems", for non-Brits)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Mickey Dam
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 07:34 AM

I was looking this up and thought I could expand a wee bit on an explanation of the Mickey Dam.
It refers to the Mugdock Reservoir in Milngavie just north of my house which is a terrific feat of Victorian engineering fro the late 19th century. The reservoir is connected to Loch Katrine in the Trossachs and has supplied the City of Glasgow with water since then.
Like most project of this era the workers would come from Ireland hence the title.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Mickey Dam
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 10:05 AM

https://youtu.be/HoiYok0JYqQ

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Mickey Dam
From: Felipa
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 11:11 AM

The singer I associate with the Mickey Dam is Kevin Mitchell

and also Joe Mulhern, but that would be in pub sessions, not gigs or recordings