Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GREENHORN YANK by JOSEPH FRANCIS CARLIN MACDONNELL

First Line: ON THE MORNING I STOOD IN THE FAIR OF DUNLEER
Last Line: CONCERNING THE ROPE AND THE NOSE-RING.
Subject(s): AMERICANS; BRISTOL, ENGLAND; IRELAND; IRISH;
On the morning I stood in the fair of Dunleer
With a bullock they'd know in the States for a steer,
Old Larry went off to the pub with an ear
For the prices that day in the market.

And as I was puffing away to compare
The breath o' my pipe with the beast's on the air,
A jobber from Bristol came up to me there,
With his: "What will ye take for him, sonny?"

"Twelve guineas!" said I, with my heart in the hope
That Larry would soon be returning to cope $
With the buyer, who snickered: "I say, are the rope "
And the nose-ring a part of the bargain?"

Then I, with the twang o' the Yank that I was,
Who knew not a line o' the cow-jobbers' laws,
"
Replied to the blackguard: "They are, sir, because --
But you better find out from my uncle."

Then, lo and behold ye! While shuffling away
With a laugh, he met Larry returning; yet they,
In striking a bargain, had nothing to say
Concerning the rope and the nose-ring.



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