The chords to The Emigrant’s Letter presented here in the key of G major. Use our chord converter to play the song in other keys. The lyrics are a letter written by a man from a boat leaving Ireland.
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I spoke to the captain – he’ll not turn her round
And if I swam back I’d be apt to be drowned
So I’ll stay where I am and the diet is great
The best of combustibles piled on me plate.
But though it is ‘Sumpchus’ I’d swap the whole lot
For the old wooden spoon an’ the stirabout pot
An’ Katey forninst me a wettin’ the tay
Where they’re cuttin’ the corn in Creeshla the day.
There’s a woman on board who knows Katey by sight
So we talked of old times till they put out the light
I’m to meet the good woman tomorra’ on deck
And we’ll talk about Katey from this to Quebec.
I know I’m no match for her, oh! not the least
With her house and two cows and her brother a priest
But the woman declares Katey’s heart on the say
While mine’s with the reapers in Creeshla the day.
If Gaffney comes courting or John Michael Mick
Put a word in for me with a lump of a stick
Don’t kill Gaffney outright he has no kind of chance
But Mickey’s a rogue you might murther at wance.
For Katey may think as the longer she waits
A boy in the hand is worth two in the States
And she’ll promise to honour, to love and obey
Some ruffyan that’s roaming round Creeshla the day.
Goodbye to you Danny no more’s to be said
And I think the salt water’s got into me head
For it dreeps from me eyes when I call to me mind
The friends an’ the colleen I’m leavin’ behind.
An’ still she might wait! When I bid her goodbye
There was just the last taste of a tear in her eye
And a break in her voice when she said: “You might stay
But please God you’ll come back to old Creeshla some day.”
The Emigrant’s Letter videos
The Emigrant’s Letter lyrics and chords
The Emigrant’s Letter lyrics and chords print version
I spoke to the captain – he’ll not turn her round
And if I swam back I’d be apt to be drowned
So I’ll stay where I am and the diet is great
The best of combustibles piled on me plate.
But though it is ‘Sumpchus’ I’d swap the whole lot
For the old wooden spoon an’ the stirabout pot
An’ Katey forninst me a wettin’ the tay
Where they’re cuttin’ the corn in Creeshla the day.
There’s a woman on board who knows Katey by sight
So we talked of old times till they put out the light
I’m to meet the good woman tomorra’ on deck
And we’ll talk about Katey from this to Quebec.
I know I’m no match for her, oh! not the least
With her house and two cows and her brother a priest
But the woman declares Katey’s heart on the say
While mine’s with the reapers in Creeshla the day.
If Gaffney comes courting or John Michael Mick
Put a word in for me with a lump of a stick
Don’t kill Gaffney outright he has no kind of chance
But Mickey’s a rogue you might murther at wance.
For Katey may think as the longer she waits
A boy in the hand is worth two in the States
And she’ll promise to honour, to love and obey
Some ruffyan that’s roaming round Creeshla the day.
Goodbye to you Danny no more’s to be said
And I think the salt water’s got into me head
For it dreeps from me eyes when I call to me mind
The friends an’ the colleen I’m leavin’ behind.
An’ still she might wait! When I bid her goodbye
There was just the last taste of a tear in her eye
And a break in her voice when she said: “You might stay
But please God you’ll come back to old Creeshla some day.”
The Emigrant’s Letter videos
The Emigrant’s Letter lyrics and chords