Monday Night is... since its bank holiday -

Irish again. One of the loveliest songs of longing, Carrickfergus...



..this gorgeous version by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, recorded in 1984. Joke anecdote at the end. Lyrics, as sung:


I wish I was in Carrickfergus,
Only for nights in Ballygrand,
I would swim over the deepest ocean,
The deepest ocean my love to find..

But the sea is wide and I can't swim over
And neither have I wings to fly.
I wish I could meet a handsome boatman
To ferry me over to my love and die.

For in Kilkenny it is reported
They have marble stones there as black as ink,
With gold and silver I did support her
But I'll sing no more now until I get a drink.

I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober,
A handsome rover from town to town.
Oh but I am sick now, my days are numbered
Come all ye young men and lay me down."