DONEGAL DANNY

I remember the night that he came in. The wind breathed cold and damp.
A giant of a man in an oilskin coat and a bundle that told he was a tramp.
He stood at the bar and he called for a pint, and he turned and gazed at the fire.
“On a night like this, to be safe and dry is me one and only desire.

CHORUS: “So here's to those that are dead, dead and gone, the friends that I loved dear.
And here's to you, and I bid you adieu, saying Donegal Danny's been here,
Me boys, Donegal Danny's been here.”

(2) Well, it's then in a voice that's hushed and low, he said, “Listen, and I'll tell you a tale,
How a man of the sea became a man of the roads, and never more will set sail.
I've fished out of Howth and Kerry Beggs, Ardnath and Baltimore,
But the cruel sea has beaten me, and I'll end me days on the shore.

(3) “One fateful night in the wind and the rain, we set sail from Kerry Beggs town.
There were five of us from sweet Donegal, and a man from county Down.
We were fishermen who worked the sea and we never counted the cost,
But I never thought ere that night was done, that all me friends would be lost.

(4) “Then the storm broke and it drove our boat to the rocks about 12 miles from shore,
And we often sighed as we fought the tide to see our homes once more,
But the ship struck a rock and we hoved the bow and we all knew that she would go down,
So we jumped into the icy sea and prayed God we wouldn't drown,
But the ragin' sea was rising still and we struck out for the land,
And she fought with all her cruelty to claim our gallant band.
Well, by St. John's Point in the early dawn I dragged myself on shore,
And I cursed the sea for what she'd done and I vowed I'd sail her nevermore.

(5) “Now it's ever since that night I've been on the road, traveling and trying to forget
That awful night I lost me friends. Why, I see their faces yet.
And still at night when the sea runs high and rain is tearing at my skin,
Why, I hear the cries of drowning men come floating over the wind.”