Town Of Ballybay
Tommy Makem
Popularity ยท Low
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Lyrics
With me ring-a-ding-a-dong, ring-a-ding-a-daddy-o
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, right up the daddy-o
In the town of Ballybay, there was a lassie dwellin'
And you were very well, and the story's worth the tellin'
Her father kept a still and he was a good distiller
But what she took to the drink, well, the devil wouldn't fill her
With me ring-a-ding-a-dong, ring-a-ding-a-daddy-o
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, right up the daddy-o
And she had a wooden leg that was hollowed down the middle
She used to tie a string on it and play it like a fiddle
She fiddled in the hall, she fiddled in the alleyway
She didn't give a damn, she had to fiddle anyway
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, ring-a-ding-a-daddy-o
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, right up the daddy-o
And she said she couldn't dance unless she had her wellie on
But when she had it on, she could dance as well as anyone
She wouldn't go to bed unless she had her shimmy on
But when she had it on, she would go as quick as anyone
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, ring-a-ding-a-daddy-o
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, right up the daddy-o
She had lovers by the score, every Tom and Dick and Harry
She was courted night and day, but still she wouldn't marry
And then she fell in love with a fella with a stammer
When he tried to run away, she hit him with a hammer
With me ring-a-ding-a-dong, ring-a-ding-a-daddy-o
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, right up the daddy-o
She had children up the stairs, she had children in the byre
And another ten or twelve sittin' roarin' by the fire
She fed them on potatoes and on soup she made with nettles
And on lumps of hairy bacon that she boiled up in the kettle
With me ring-a-ding-a-dong, ring-a-ding-a-daddy-o
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, right up the daddy-o
So she led a sheltered life, eatin' porridge and like puddin'
And she terrorized her man until he died right sudden
And when the husband died, she was feeling very sorry
She rolled him in a bag and she threw him in the quarry
With me ring-a-ding-a-dong, ring-a-ding-a-daddy-o
Ring-a-ding-a-dong, right up the daddy-o