Henry's Songbook

For ramblin', for rovin', for football' or courtin'
For drinkin' black porter as fast as you'd fill
In all your days rovin' you'll find none so jovial
As our Muskerry sportsman, the bold Thady Quill

Ye maids of Dunhallow who're anxious for courting
A word of advice I will give unto ye
Proceed to Banteer to the athletic sporting
And hand in your names to the club committee
And never commence any skits on your programme
Till the carriage you see flying over the hill
Right down through the valleys and glens of Kilcorney
With our own darling sportsman the bold Thady Quill

At the great hurling match between Cork and Tipperary
('Twas played in the park on the banks of the Lee)
Our own darling lads were afraid of being beaten
So they sent for bold Thady to Ballinagree
He hurled the ball right and left in their faces
And showed the Tipperary men action and skill
If they touched on his lines he would certainly brain them
And the papers were full of the praise of Thade Quill

At the Cork Exhibition there was a fair lady
Whose fortune exceeded a million or more
But a bad constitution had ruined her completely
And medical treatment had failed o'er and o'er
Our Mother, says she, sure I know what will ease me
And cure this disease that will certainly kill
Give over your doctors and medical treatment
I'd rather one squeeze out of bold Thady Quill

As sung by The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem

Not used:

Thady was famous in many other places
At the athletic meeting held out in Cloghroe
He won the long jump without throwing off his braces
Going fifty-four feet every sweep he would throw
At the putting of the weight there was a Dublin man foremost
But Thady outreached and exceeded him still
And around the whole field rang the wild ringing chorus
Here's luck to our hero, the bold Thady Quill

In the year ninety-one before Parnell was taken
Thade was outrageously breaking the peace
He got a light sentence for causing commotion
And six months' hard labour for batin' police
But in spite of coercion he's still agitating
Every drop of his life's blood he's willing to spill
To gain for old Ireland complete liberation
Till then there's no rest for me, says bold Thady Quill

Tune: Nell Flaherty's Drake