Book of Song

Dublin in the Rare Auld Times

by Luke Kelly and the Dubliners

[G] Raised on songs and [C] stor- [G] ies, heroes of [Em] renown,
[G] The passing tales and [C] glor- [G] ies, that [D] once was Dublin town,
[G] The hallowed halls and [C] hous- [G] es, the haunting children's [Em] rhymes,
[G] That once was Dublin [C] ci- [G] ty, in the [D] Rare Oul [G] Times.

( Chorus
[G] Ring a ring a [C] ro- [G] sie as the light [Em] declines,
I [G] remember Dublin [C] ci- [G] ty in the [D] rare oul [G] times. )

My name it is Sean Dempsey as Dublin as could be
Born hard and late in Pimlico in a house that ceased to be
My 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 and child of Mary, from the rebel liberties,
I lost her to a student chap, with skin as black as coal,
When he took her off to Birmingham, she took away my soul.

Chorus

The years have made me bitter, the gargle dims me brain
'Cause Dublin keeps on changing and nothing seems the same.
The Pillar and the Met have gone, the Royal long since pulled down
As the grey unyielding concrete makes a city of my Town.

Chorus

Fare thee well sweet Anna Liffey, I can no longer stay,
And watch the new glass cages, that spring up along the quay,
My mind's too full of memories, to old to hear new chimes,
I'm a part of what was Dublin, in the Rare Oul Times.

Chorus x2