Oh, my name it is Nell,
and the truth part to tell.
I come from Coat 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
me 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 pig,
May each hair in 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 rat set his mail.
May every old fairy from
Cork to Dun Laoghaire
Dip him snug and airy 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 old 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,
On 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 darlin' Drake.
Me treasure hath dozens of
nephews and cousins,
And one I must get
or me heart it will break.
For to set me mind easy
or else I'll run crazy,
So ends the whole song
of Nell Flatterty's Drake.