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A traditional Irish folk song, concerning a rural courtship in the West of Ireland. The first known version was collected by Sam Henry from Bridget Kealey in Dungiven in 1936 - Wikipedia
Galway Shawl, The
by trad
In [C] Oranmore in the County [Em] Galway,
One pleasant [Am] evening in the [Dm] month of [F] May;
I spied a [C] colleen, she was young and [Em] handsome,
Her beauty [Am] fairly [F] took my [G] breath [C] away.
Chorus
She wore no [C] jewels, no costly [Em] diamonds,
No paint no [Am] powder, no [Dm] none at [F] all;
She wore a [C] bonnet with ribbons [Em] on it,
And 'round her [Am] shoulder [F] was a [G] Galway [C] shawl.
We kept on walking, she kept on talking,
Till her father's cottage came into view;
She said: Come in, sir, and meet my father,
And play to please him The Foggy Dew.
She sat me down, beside the turf fire,
I could see her father, he was six feet tall;
And her mother soon had, the kettle boiling,
And all I could think of was the Galway shawl.
Chorus
I played The Blackbird and The Stack Of Barley,
Rodney's Glory, and The Foggy Dew;
She sang each note like an Irish linnet,
As her tears they fell from her eyes of blue.
'Twas early, early, all in the morning,
I hit the road for old Donegal;
I smiled and thanked her, she cried and kissed me,
But my heart remained with the Galway shawl.
Chorus
repeat last line
One pleasant [Am] evening in the [Dm] month of [F] May;
I spied a [C] colleen, she was young and [Em] handsome,
Her beauty [Am] fairly [F] took my [G] breath [C] away.
Chorus
She wore no [C] jewels, no costly [Em] diamonds,
No paint no [Am] powder, no [Dm] none at [F] all;
She wore a [C] bonnet with ribbons [Em] on it,
And 'round her [Am] shoulder [F] was a [G] Galway [C] shawl.
We kept on walking, she kept on talking,
Till her father's cottage came into view;
She said: Come in, sir, and meet my father,
And play to please him The Foggy Dew.
She sat me down, beside the turf fire,
I could see her father, he was six feet tall;
And her mother soon had, the kettle boiling,
And all I could think of was the Galway shawl.
Chorus
I played The Blackbird and The Stack Of Barley,
Rodney's Glory, and The Foggy Dew;
She sang each note like an Irish linnet,
As her tears they fell from her eyes of blue.
'Twas early, early, all in the morning,
I hit the road for old Donegal;
I smiled and thanked her, she cried and kissed me,
But my heart remained with the Galway shawl.
Chorus
repeat last line