OH! Larry M'Hale he had little to fear, And never could want when the crops didn't fail; He'd a house and demesne and eight hundred a year, And the heart for to spend it, had Larry M'Hale! The soul of a party -- the life of a feast, And an illigant song he could sing, I'll be bail; He would ride with the rector, and drink with the priest, Oh! the broth of a boy was old Larry M'Hale. It's little he cared for the judge or recorder, His house was as big and as strong as a jail; With a cruel four-pounder, he kept all in great order, He'd murder the country, would Larry M'Hale. He'd a blunderbuss too; of horse pistols a pair; But his favourite weapon was always a flail; I wish you could see how he'd empty a fair, For he handled it nately, did Larry M'Hale. His ancestors were kings before Moses was born; His mother descended from great Grana Uaile; He laughed all the Blakes and the Frenches to scorn; They were mushrooms compared to old Larry M'Hale. He sat down every day to a beautiful dinner, With cousins and uncles enough for a tail; And, though loaded with debt, oh! the devil a thinner Could law or the sheriff make Larry M'Hale. With a larder supplied, and a cellar well stored, None lived half so well from Fair-Head to Kinsale, And he piously said, 'I've a plentiful board, And the Lord he is good to old Larry M'Hale.' So fill up your glass, and a high bumper give him, It's little we'd care for the tithes or repale; For ould Erin would be a fine country to live in, If we only had plenty, like Larry M'Hale. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ONLY A WOMAN by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK THE WISTFUL DAYS by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON AN ODE IN TIME OF HESITATION by WILLIAM VAUGHN MOODY THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE: CANTO 1 by JAMES THOMSON (1700-1748) OUT FROM BEHIND THIS MASK by WALT WHITMAN |