This page is part of an Irish Genealogy web site From Ireland ©Dr. Jane Lyons, Dublin
County Armagh Ireland
Ballads - Poetry
See also : The Boy's of Armagh
The Bard of Armagh
Author unknown
Oh, listen to
the lay of a poor Irish harper,
And scorn not the strains of his old withered hands,
But remember those fingers they once could move sharper
In raising the merry strains of his dear native land;
It was long before the shamrock, dear isle, lovely emblem,
Was crushed in its beauty by the Saxon’s lion paw,
And all the pretty colleens around me would gather,
Call me their bold Phelim Brady, the Bard of Armagh.
How I love to
muse on the days of my boyhood,
Though fourscore and three years have flew by them,
It’s kings sweet reflection that every young joy,
For the merry hearted boys make the best of old men.
At a fair or a wake I could twist my shillelagh,
And trip through a dance with my brogues tied with straw,
There are all the pretty maidens around me would gather,
Call me their bold Phelim Brady, the bard of Armagh.
In truth I have
wandered this wide world over,
Yet Ireland’s my home and a dwelling for me,
And, oh, let the turf that my old bones shall cover
Be cut from the land that is trod by the free;
And when Sergeant Death in his cold arms doth embrace,
And lulls me to sleep with old Erin-go-bragh!
By the side of my Kathleen, my dear pride, oh, place me,
Then forget Phelim Brady, the bard of Armagh.
HOME PAGE - Irish Ballads index - Ballads first line index - County Armagh page
Armagh Poetry Books
Donn
Byrne, bard of Armagh,
Carousel
Co.Armagh, Londonderry and Fermanagh
Calypso,
Co.Armagh, Fermanagh and Londonderry
Time in Armagh W. H. Smith
Time
in Armagh
Poetry in Motion Co Armagh W. H. Smith
Poetry
in Motion Co Armagh
Hidden
Treasures County Armagh
2001 A Poetry Odyssey Co.Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone W.H. Smith
Once
Upon a Rhyme Co Armagh
Spellbound
Co. Armagh and Fermanagh
URL http://www.from-ireland.net
©Dr. Jane Lyons 2001-2005