The Rare Auld Times
[Chorus:]Ring a ring a rosieAs the light declinesI remember Dublin CityIn the rare old times
Raised on songs and storiesHeroes of renownThe passing tales and gloriesThat once was Dublin townThe hallowed halls and housesThe haunting children's rhymesThat once was Dublin cityIn the rare old times
[Chorus:]Ring a ring a rosieAs the light declinesI remember Dublin CityIn the rare old times
My name it is Sean DempseyAs Dublin as could beBorn hard and late in PimlicoIn a house that's ceased to beBy trade I was a cooperLost out to redundancyLike my house that fell to progressMy trade's a memory
I courted Peggy DiagnamAs pretty as you pleaseA gentle child of MaryFrom the rebel libertiesI lost her to a student chapWith skin as black as coalWhen he took her off to BirminghamShe took away my soul
[Chorus:]Ring a ring a rosieAs the light declinesI remember Dublin CityIn the rare old times
[Chorus:]The years have made me bitterThe gargles dims me brain'Cause Dublin keeps on changingAnd nothing seems the sameThe Pillar and the Met have goneThe Royal long since pulled downAs the great and unyielding concreteMakes a city of my town
[Chorus:]Ring a ring a rosieAs the light declinesI remember Dublin CityIn the rare old times
[Chorus:]Fare thee well sweet Anna LiffeyI can no longer stayAnd watch the new glass cagesThat spring up along the quayMy mind's too full of memoriesToo old to hear new chimesI'm a part of what was DublimIn the rare old times
[Chorus: X2]