Colcannon

(Traditional, arranged by Brendan Nolan)

Acapella

Did you eat colcannon
Made with lovely pickled cream
And the greens and scallions mingled
Like a picture in a dream
Did you ever make a hole on top
To hold the melting flake
Of the creamy-flavoured butter
That your mammy used to make

Chorus:
Well you did so you did
So did he and so did I
And the more I think about
Sure the nearer I'm to cry
Oh weren't them the happy days
When troubles we had not
And our mothers made colcannon
In the little skillet pot

Did you ever take potato cakes
And boxty to the school
Tucked underneath your oxter
With your books and slate and rule
And when the teacher wasn't looking
A great big bite you'd take
Of the flowery-flavoured buttered soft
And sweet potato cake

Did you ever go a-courting
When the evening sun went down
And the moon began a-peeping
From behind the Hill o' Down
As you wandered down the boreen^*
Where the clurachan^** was seen
And you whispered loving phrases
To your own dear sweet cailin^***

^*boreen: country road
^**clurachan: delinquent Leprechaun (they tend to steal and are no strangers to a glass or two of whiskey).
^***cailin: girl