Meg
At sixteen years I was blue ans sad.
then father said I should find a lad.
So I set out to become a wife,
An' found the real love of my life.
His name it was Chris, and the last was MacGill.
I met him one night pickin' flowers on the hill.
He had lots of charm an' a certain kind o' touch,
An a certain kind of eagerness that pleased me very much.
so there 'neath the moon where romance often springs,
I gave him my heart--an' a few other things.
I don't know how long that I stayed up on the hill,
But the moon had disappeared, and so had Christopher MacGill.
So I went home an' I thought I'd die,
Till Father said, make another try.
So out I went to become a wife,
An' found the real love of my lfe.
He came from the lowlands, the lowlands said he.
I saw him an' knew he was perfect for me.
Jus' one thing that puzzled me an' it always will,
Was he told me he had heard about me from his friend MacGill.
We quick fell in love an' went down by the creek.
The next day he said he'd be back in a week,
An' I thought he would, for now how was I to know
That of all the lowland laddies, there was never one as low!
I told my father the awful truth.
He said, "What difference? Ye've got your youth."
So out I went mad to be a wife,
An' found the real love of my life.
Oh, he was a poet, a rhymer was he.
He read me some verse he had written for me.
He said they would move me, these poems from his pen,
An' how right he was, because they moved me right into the glen.
We stayed till the dawn came an' lighted the sky,
Then I shook his hand an' I bid him good-bye.
I never went back, for what I had heard was true:
That a poet only writes about the things he cannot do.
My pa said, "Look out for men who think.
Ye'll be more certain with men who drink."
So out I went to become a wife,
An' found the real love of my lifeTraditional, adapted
by Arlo Guthrie
I am a little Beggar and a Beggar I have been
For three score'r more in this little Isle of green
And I'm known from the Liffy down to Segue
And I'm known by the name of bold Donahue
Of all the trades a-goin' now sure beggin is the best
When a man gets tired he can lay him down to rest
He can beg for his dinner when there's nothing left to do
Then just cut around the corner with his old Rigadoo
I slept in a barn way down in Curabawn
A-waitin' in for the mornin' I slept till the dawn
With the holes in the roof and the rain a-comin' through
And the cats and the rats they were playin' peeka-boo
Who should awaken but the woman of the house
With here white spotted apron and her calico blouse
She began to frighten when I said boo!
Sayin' don't be afraid ma'am it's old Johnny Dhu.
I met a little flaxy haired girl one day,
Good morning little flaxy haired girl I say
Good morning little Beggar Man and how do you do
With your rags and your tags and your old Rigaioo
Buy a pair of leggings and a collar and a be
And a nice big lady I will fetch by and by
Buy a pair of goggles and I'll color them blue
And an old fashioned lady I will make her too
Over the fields with the pack on my back
Over the field with my great heavy sack
With the holes in my shoes and the toes a'peekin' through
Singin' skittilee rink-a-doodle it's the old Johnny Dhu
Must be going to bed boys, it's gettin' late at night
All the fire's all raked and up goes the light
And now you've heard the story of my old Rigadoo
It's "Good-bye God be with you' sings the old Johnny Dhu.