Oh, my name it is Nell,
and the truth for to tell
I come from Cote Hill,
which I'll never deny
I had a fine drake,
and I die for his sake
That my grandmother left me,
and she gone to die
The dear little fellow,
his legs they were yellow
He could fly like a swallow,
or swim like a hake
Till some dirty savage took
grace his white cabbage,
Most wantonly murdered
my beautiful drake.
Now his neck it was green,
almost fit to be seen,
He was fit for a queen
of the highest degree.
His body was white,
and it would you delight,
He was plump, fat, and heavy,
and brisk as a bee.
He was wholesome an d sound,
he would weigh twenty pound,
And the universe round,
he would roam for his sake.
But look to the robber,
be he drunk or sober,
That murder'd Nell Flaherty's
beautiful drake.
May his spade never dig,
may his sow never pick,
May each hair on his wig
be well thriced with the flail,
May his door never latch,
may his roof have no thatch,
May his turkeys not hatch,
may the rats eat his mail.
May every old fairy from
Cork to Dun Laoghaire
Dip him snug and air y in river or lake,
That the eel and the trout
they may dine on the snout
Of the monster that murdered
Nell Flaherty's drake.
May his pig never grunt,
may his cat never hunt,
May a ghost ever haunt him
at dead of the night,
May his hens never lay,
may his horse never neigh,
May his goat fly away like an owl -paper kite,
That the flies and the fleas,
may the wretch ever tease,
May the piercing March breeze
make him shiver and shake,
May a lump of his stick
raise the bumps fast and thick,
And the monster that murdered
Nell Flaherty's drake.
Well, the only good news that I have to infuse
is
That old Paddy Hughes and
young Anthony Blake,
Also Johnny Dwyer and Corny McGuire,
They each have a grandson
of my darling Drake.
My treasure had dozens of
nephews and cousins,
And one I must get
or my heart it will break.
For to set me mind easy,
or else I'll run crazy,
So ends the whole song of
Nell Flaherty's drake.