Songtext Little beggarman Katja Ebstein

Little beggarman

I am a little beggarman and beggin I have been

For three score years in this little isle of green

I'm known along the Liffey from the basin to the zoo

And I'm known by the name of the Bold Johnnie Dhu

My brother called "The Jolly Beggar" tripped over the plain

He comes unto the farmer's doors a lodging for a gain

Sometimes the farmers' daughter views him cheek and chin

And calls him a handsome man and takes him in

Of all trades a going sure the begging is the best

For when a man is tired he can sit down and rest

He begs for his dinner, he has nothing else to do

But to slip around the corner with his old rigadoo

I slept last night in a barn in Currabawn

T' was a shocking wet night but I slept until the dawn

Holes in a roof and the rain coming through

And the rats and the cats were all playing peek-a-boo

Oh when I was awaken by the woman of the house

With her white spotted apron and her fine gingham blouse

She began to frighten, all I said was: "Boo"

Don't be afraid, cause it's only Johnny Dhu

I met a little flaxen-haired girl on day

"Good morning, little flaxen-haired girl" I did say

"Good morning, little beggarman, and how do you do

With your rags and your tags and your old rigadoo?"

"I'll buy pair of leggins and a collar and a tie

And a nice young lady I'll go courting by and by

I'll buy a pair of goggles and I'll colour them blue

And an old-fashioned lady I will make her too

So all along the highroad with my bag upon my back

And over the fields with my heavy bulging sack

Holes in my shoes and the toes peeping through

Singing "Skin-ma-link-a-dooddle" with my old rigadoo

Oh I must be gone to bed now for it's getting late at night

The fire's all raked and there isn't any light

For now you've heard the story of my old rigadoo

So good night and God be with you from old Johnny Dhu