THE ROLLICKING BOYS AROUND TANDRAGEE

Good luck to all here now barring the cat
That sits in the corner there smelling a rat
O wheesht your philandering girls and behave
And saving you presence, I'll chant you a stave
I come from the land where the pritties grow big
And the boys neat and handy can swirl in a jig
And the girls they would charm your heart for to see
Those darling colleens around Tandragee

Chorus

So here's to the boys who are happy and gay
Singing and dancing and tearing away
Rollicksome, frollicksome, frisky and free
We're the rollicking boys around Tandragee

No doubt you have heard of Killarney I'm sure
And sweet Innishowen for a drop of the pure
Dublin's the place for the strawberry beds
And Donnybrook Fair for the cracking of heads
Have you e'er seen an Irishman dancing palltog
How he faces his partner and turns up his brog (brogue)
He shakes at the buckle and bends at the knee
They're wonderful dancers in Tandragee

Now the oul jaunting car is an elegant joult
And Derry's a place that is famed for a hoult
Among the green bushes that grow in Tyrone
And the County Fermanagh for muscle and bone
But for feasting and dancing and fun at the fair
Sure there's no one can match with the Rakes of Kildare
Green Erin's my country, the gem of the sea
But the gem of oul Ireland is Tandragee

O where is the man, either Christian or Turk
Could equal the bold Robert Emmett or Burke
O where is the lawyer can speak up like Dan
The devil another, bad luck to the one.
And where is the singer can sing like Tom Moore
Whose melodies charm all dull care from your door
But we'll beat them all yet boys, and that you will see
For we're raring fine fellows round Tandragee.

From Paddy Tunney's book 'The Stone Fiddle' where he says that he learned the song from his Uncle Mick.
Paddy sings it on the Topic LP 'A Wild Bees Nest' 12T139 ^^