COURTING ON THE OLD GLEN BRAE

‘Tis fifty years and over since I left my youth behind

                And I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs since then;

But ups or downs don’t matter to the thoughts that’s in my mind—

                I am thinking of the ways of maids and men.

Of the days when I was courting there are things I would forget;

And although those days and times are far away

                There are memories that I treasure and I never will forget

Courting on the old glen brae.

Oh, many a summer evening when I courted Mary Kate

                And thought that she was Ireland’s fairest flower

I’d be sitting on the range wall of the bridge and have to wait,

                On the little lady’s pleasure for an hour.

Though she always kept me waiting she was always sure to come

                And would laugh at me, no matter what I’d say

For she knew, the little devil, she had just to crook her thumb

                To bring me to the old glen brae.

Oh, Mary Kate was clever, and the blarney that she had

                The birds down from the tree-tops she could charm

But she left me at the finish and got married to a lad,

                Who had pimples,warts,and whiskers – and a farm.

Now by nature I’m forgiving so I bore them no ill will

                The poor man’s dead and gone this many a day

While Mary Kate is living, and I sometimes see her still –

                But never on the old glen brae.