THE GALWAY SHAWL (Seosamh Ó hÉanaí)
Galway Shawl, The – Cartlanna Sheosaimh Uí Éanaí
In Oranmore, in the County Galway
One pleasant evening, in the month of May
I spied a colleen so fair and handsome
Her beauty stole my heart away.
She wore no jewels, no costly diamonds
No paint, no powder, no, none at all
She wore a bonnet with a ribbon on it
And o’er her shoulders the Galway shawl.
As we were walking we still kept talking
‘Till her father’s cabin came into view;
She said, ‘Come in and meet my father
And please and play him ‘The Foggy Dew.’
She sat me down beside the fire
Beside her father who was six foot tall
And very soon she had the kettle boiling
But all I could think of was my Galway shawl.
I played ‘The Blackbird,’ ‘The Stack o’ Barley’
‘Rodney’s Glory’ and ‘The Foggy Dew.’
She danced each note like an Irish linnet
While tears ran down her eyes so blue.
I started off early next morning
To hit the road for Donegal
She sighed and kissed me, and then she left me
She stole my heart in her Galway shawl.
