The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #101430   Message #2046704
Posted By: Jim Dixon
08-May-07 - 11:40 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Blind Irish Girl / Pride of Liscarroll
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BLIND IRISH GIRL (from Bodleian)
Here's my transcription from Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, Harding B 11(1816):

THE BLIND IRISH GIRL

1. In my native home, Lisscarroll,
Lives a colleen who is blind;
And her name is Katie Farrell.
To her the neighbours are all kind.
To see her knit beside her mother,
You ne'er would think her sight was gone;
And with Barney, her young brother,
She milks the cows at early dawn.

CHORUS: The pride of Lisscarroll is sweet Katie Farrell,
With cheeks as red as roses and teeth as white as pearl.
The neighbours all pity this colleen so pretty,
And oh! how we all love this blind Irish girl.

2. Years ago when she was courting
Her young sweetheart, Ned Molloy,
One night they were both out walking
With hearts like children, full of joy.
A storm came on and Kate got frightened.
She seized the arm of sweetheart Ned,
When both of them were struck by lightning.
They found her blind and he was dead. CHORUS.

3. What a sad and awful ending,
Just when everything seemed bright,
For her to lose her future husband,
And she, poor girl, to lose her sight!
All the neighbours gathered round her.
One and all to her were kind;
And the reason: her affliction.
They pitied her for she was blind. CHORUS.