LAWLESS (from memory)

He was Lawless by name and lawless by nature,
Trouble right from the start.
Hard as nails, running wild through the streets,
He was breaking his poor mother's heart.
Nature played a trick on Lawless,
And the humour of nature is cruel.
He grew up as we all had expected
Into a dangerous fool.

He was a hard man, a man for all seasons.
He was always out for a fight.
He couldn't hold drink, but still he'd get plastered
In Clark's every Saturday night.
He'd strip to his vest and challenge the best
Till the guards they were called to come fast,
And they'd lock him away for the rest of the day,
Let him out on a Sunday for Mass.

One night he went down to the Ringsend Regatta
Where he met up with the boul Dolly Platts.
She wasn't exactly what you'd call beauty,
But she was the belle of our flats.
A whirlwind romance and Dolly took a flyer.
With Lawless she would settle down.
It was pure coincidence three months before
There was a Yankee destroyer in town.

Well, the couple were blessed with one of God's miracles
Before six months had elapsed.
Dolly gave birth to a nine-pound black baby
And Lawless was fit to collapse.
She swore she'd never been touched by another
And Lawless took her at her word,
And the neighbours all said, "Sure he's the spit of his father,
And the cuckoo is a wonderful bird".

And now Lawless stays in and looks after the family
While Dolly goes out for the night.
The ould gossips they say she's free in her ways,
And their evil rumours ran rife.
When Lawless heard this, he waited for Dolly
On the bridge where the river runs low,
And though no one will ever know what happened next,
Dolly drowned in the blather below.

Now there's some say he's evil and more say he's crazy.
Everyone says that he's mad.
No one will defend him. He was no angel,
But I tell you, he wasn't all bad.
They've locked him away for the rest of his natural.
Never again will he see
At the back of Ringsend, there's a lonely child playing
Where the Liffy flows into the sea.

I absolutely love this song. I think everyone knows a Lawless or three. Have fun singing it. Its always been well accepted wherever I've played it. I will post the other song lyrics tonight if no one else beats me to it. Den