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Written by Sean McCarthy who was born in Listowel, Co. Kerry 1923. He also wrote "Step it out, Mary". This version is after a live recording of the Clancy Brothers who preface it as being a song about one of the Tinker ladies.
Red Haired Mary
by Sean McCarthy
While [E] going to the fair of Dingle
One fine morning [A] last July
When [E] going down the road before me,
A [E] red haired girl I [B7] chanced to [E] spy.
I went up to her, said I, "Young lady,
My donkey, he will carry two."
Well, seei'n as how you have the donkey
to the Dingle fair I'll ride with you.
But when we reached the fair at Dingle,
I took her hand to say good-bye,
When a tinker man stepped up behind me,
And he belted me in my left eye!
( Chorus
"Keep your hands off red-haired Mary,
Her and I will soon be wed.
We'll see the priest this very morning,
And tonight we'll lie in a married bed." )
Now I was feeling rather peevish,
And my poor old eye was sad and sore,
So I gently tapped him with me hobnails,
And he flew back through Murphy's door!
Chorus
A policeman, he came round the corner,
And he told me I had broke the law,
When the donkey kicked him in the kneecap,
And he fell down and broke his jaw!
Chorus
Then he went off to find his brother;
The biggest man you ever did meet.
And he tapped me gently with his knuckles,
And I was minus two front teeth.
Chorus
Now the red haired girl, she kept on smiling.
"I'll go with you young man", she said
"we'll forget the priest this very morning,
and tonight we'll lie in Murphy's shed!"
( Ending Chorus
Keep your hands off red-haired Mary,
Her and I will soon be wed.
We'll forget the priest this very morning,
and tonight we'll lie in Murphy's shed! )
Through the Dingle Fair we rode together,
My black eye and her red hair
Smilin' gaily at the tinkers,
And by God we were a handsome pair!
Ending Chorus
One fine morning [A] last July
When [E] going down the road before me,
A [E] red haired girl I [B7] chanced to [E] spy.
I went up to her, said I, "Young lady,
My donkey, he will carry two."
Well, seei'n as how you have the donkey
to the Dingle fair I'll ride with you.
But when we reached the fair at Dingle,
I took her hand to say good-bye,
When a tinker man stepped up behind me,
And he belted me in my left eye!
( Chorus
"Keep your hands off red-haired Mary,
Her and I will soon be wed.
We'll see the priest this very morning,
And tonight we'll lie in a married bed." )
Now I was feeling rather peevish,
And my poor old eye was sad and sore,
So I gently tapped him with me hobnails,
And he flew back through Murphy's door!
Chorus
A policeman, he came round the corner,
And he told me I had broke the law,
When the donkey kicked him in the kneecap,
And he fell down and broke his jaw!
Chorus
Then he went off to find his brother;
The biggest man you ever did meet.
And he tapped me gently with his knuckles,
And I was minus two front teeth.
Chorus
Now the red haired girl, she kept on smiling.
"I'll go with you young man", she said
"we'll forget the priest this very morning,
and tonight we'll lie in Murphy's shed!"
( Ending Chorus
Keep your hands off red-haired Mary,
Her and I will soon be wed.
We'll forget the priest this very morning,
and tonight we'll lie in Murphy's shed! )
Through the Dingle Fair we rode together,
My black eye and her red hair
Smilin' gaily at the tinkers,
And by God we were a handsome pair!
Ending Chorus