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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 Oranmore in the County Galway,
One pleasant evening in the month of May;
I spied a colleen, she was young and handsome,
Her beauty fairly took my breath away.
Chorus
She wore no jewels, no costly diamonds,
No paint no powder, no none at all;
She wore a bonnet with ribbons on it,
And 'round her shoulder was a Galway 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 evening in the month of May;
I spied a colleen, she was young and handsome,
Her beauty fairly took my breath away.
Chorus
She wore no jewels, no costly diamonds,
No paint no powder, no none at all;
She wore a bonnet with ribbons on it,
And 'round her shoulder was a Galway 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