The Smuggling Man
Air: Old Skillara Hat
Oh my name is Mr. Murphy, I am a smuggling man
I sometimes cross the border and do the best I can,
My job is not an easy one, you'll all remember that
The only thing you've got to watch is the old policeman's hat.
Now sailors fight upon the sea and soldiers on the land,
Some men face a scolding wife with a poker in her hand,
But poor old Mr. Murphy has more to do than that
He'd rather face the devil than the old policeman's hat.
One night I crossed the border with a thing they called a cow,
It had one eye and had no tail, I well remember now,
It was something like a cross between a donkey and a rat,
But I could have won the derby when it saw the policeman's hat.
Now all the guards and soldiers from Athlone to Kinsale
Will never stop this animal although she has no tail,
She'll wipe out all the pugilists and leave the wrestlers flat
It's God help poor old Ireland when she sees the policeman's hat.
If this old cow had been a horse, my fortune would be made
She'd have wiped out Golden Miller and put Workman in the shade,
She's a masterpiece on hurdles and a devil on the flat
You can put your money on her when she sees the policeman's hat.
Now good luck to all the smuggling men from Cork to Donegal,
The boys who face the perils of night to break the tariff wall,
For they are heroes every one, there's no mistaking that
And they'll sweep away the border and the old policeman's hat.
Hugh Charles Kane, Raws, Castlefin.