Old Dun Cow

Old Dun Cow lyrics and music Harry Wincott

Performed by Marc Gunn
From: St Patrick's Day

 

Some friends and I in a public house
Was playing a game of chance one night
When into the pub a fireman ran
His face all a chalky white.
"What's up", says Brown, "Have you seen a ghost,
Or have you seen your Aunt Mariah?"
"Me Aunt Mariah be buggered!", says he,
"The bleedin' pub's on fire!"

* And there was Brown upside down
Lappin'' up the whiskey on the floor.
"Booze, booze!" The firemen cried
As they came knockin' on the door (clap clap)
Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
And somebody shouted MacIntyre! MACINTYRE!
And we all got blue-blind paralytic drunk
When the Old Dun Cow caught fire.

"Oh well," says Brown, "What a bit of luck.
Everybody follow me.
And it's down to the cellar
If the fire's not there
Then we'll have a grand old spree."
So we went on down after good old Brown
The booze we could not miss
And we hadn't been there ten minutes or more
Till we were quite pissed.

Then, Smith walked over to the port wine tub
And gave it just a few hard knocks (clap clap)
Started takin' off his pantaloons
Likewise his shoes and socks.
"Hold on, " says Brown, "that ain't allowed
Ya cannot do that thing here.
Don't go washin' trousers in the port wine tub
When we got Guinness beer."

Then there came from the old back door
The Vicar of the local church.
And when he saw our drunken ways,
He began to scream and curse.
"Ah, you drunken sods! You heathen clods!
You've taken to a drunken spree!
You drank up all the Benedictine wine
And you didn't save a drop for me!"

And then there came a mighty crash
Half the bloody roof caved in.
We were almost drowned in the firemen's hose
But still we were gonna stay.
So we got some tacks and some old wet sacks
And we nailed ourselves inside
And we sat drinking the finest Rum
Till we were bleary-eyed.

Later that night, when the fire was out
We came up from the cellar below.
Our pub was burned. Our booze was drunk.
Our heads was hanging low.
"Oh look", says Brown with a look quite queer.
Seems something raised his ire.
"Now we gotta get down to Murphy's Pub,
It closes on the hour!"

Chords: KEY Dm

[Dm]Some friends and I in a public house
Was playing a game of chance one [A7]night
[Dm]When into the [C]pub a [Bb]fireman [A7]ran
[Dm]His face all a chalky [A7]white.
[Dm]"What's up", says Brown, "Have you seen a ghost,
Or have you seen your Aunt [A7]Mariah?"
[Dm]"Me Aunt [C]Mariah be [Bb]buggered!", says [A7]he,
[Dm]"The bleedin' pub's on [A7]fire!"

[Dm]and there was Brown upside down
Lappin'' up the whiskey on the [A7]floor.
[Dm]"Booze, [C]booze!" The [Bb]firemen [A7]cried
[Dm]As they came knockin' on the [A7]door (clap clap)
[Dm]Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
And somebody shouted [A7]MacIntyre! MACINTYRE!
[Dm]And we all got [C]blue-blind [Bb]paralytic [A7]drunk
[Dm]When the Old Dun [A7]Cow caught [Dm]fire.

 

Background

A fan first suggested this song two years ago at the Texas Renaissance "Venice" Faire. At long last, we've added it to our repetoire and what a great addition it is. It's a great sing-a-long and fun to shout along with, and after our first performance of it, I'm happy to say it's gonna be hit! It's always great when you find out where certain verses came from. We were notified that the Vicar verse and the last verse were written by Brad Howard of The Pyrates Royale.

 

Old Dun Cow Videos

from St Patrick's Day CD

live performance of Old Dun Cow at Sherwood Forest Faire

from Funny Irish Pub Songs show