Greenfields Együttes - The Beggarman’s song

I am a little beggarman, a begging I have been
For three score years in this little isle of green
I'm known along the Liffey from the Basin to the Zoo
And everybody calls me by the name of Johnny Dhu
Of all the trades a going, sure the begging is the best
For when a man is tired he can sit him down and rest
He can beg for his dinner, he has nothing else to do
But to slip around the corner with his ould rigadoo

I slept in a barn one night in Currabawn
A shocking wet night it was, but I slept until the dawn
There was holes in the roof and the raindrops coming through,
And the rats and the cats were all playing peek-a-boo.
Who did I waken but the woman of the house
With her white spotted apron and her fine gingham blouse
She began to get exited and all I said was ’ Boo!
Sure, don't be afraid at all, ’tis only Johnny Dhu

I met a little girl while a walkin out one day
Good morrow little flaxen haired girl, I did say
Good morrow little beggarman and how do you do
With your rags and your tags and your ould rigadoo
I'll buy a pair of leggins and a collar and a tie
And a nice young lady I'll go courting by and by
I'll buy a pair of goggles and I'll color them with blue
And an old fashioned lady I will make her too

So all along the high road with my bag upon my back
Over the fields with my bulging heavy sack
With holes in my shoes and my toes a-peeping through,
Singing ’ Skin-a-ma-link-a-doodle with my ould rigadoo.
O I must be going to bed for it's getting late at night
The fire is all raked and now ’tis out of light,
For now you've heard the story of my auld rigadoo
So good-bye and God be with you, from ould Johnny Dhu’.