The Dubliners - The Rare Ould Times lyrics

Raised on songs & stories, heroes of re-known
The passing tales & glories that
Once was Dublin town
The hallowed halls & houses
The haunting childrens' rhymes
That once was Dublin city in
The rare ould times

Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines
I remember Dublin city in the rare ould times

My name it is Sean Demspey
As Dublin as can be
Born hard & late in Pimlico
In a house that ceased to be
By trade I was a cooper
Lost out to redundancy
Like my house that fell to progress
My trade's a memory
And I courted Peggy Dignan, as
Pretty as you please
A rogue & a child of Mary
From the rebel liberties
I lost her to a student chap with
A skin as black as coal
When he took her off to Birmingham
She took away my soul

The years have made me bitter
The gargle dims my brain
'Cause Dublin keeps on changing &
Nothing stays the same
The Pillar & the Met have gone
The Royal long since pulled down
As the great unyielding concrete makes
A city of my town

Fare thee well sweet Anna Liffey
I can no longer stay
Watch the new glass cages
That spring up along the quay
My mind's too full of memories
Too old to hear new chimes
I'm part of what was Dublin
In the rare ould times