A popular Irish song, 1879.
words and music by J. L. Molloy
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- O the days of the Kerry dancing
O the ring of the piper’s tune
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon
When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer night
And the Kerry piper’s tuning
Made us long with wild delight
O to think of it, O to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears
O the days of Kerry dancing
O the ring of the piper’s tune
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon
- Was there ever a sweeter colleen
In the dance, than Eily More
Or a prouder lad than Thady
As he boldly took the floor
Lads and lasses, to your places
Up the middle and down again
Ah! the merry hearted laughter
Ringing through the happy glen
O to think of it, O to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears
O the days of Kerry dancing
O the ring of the piper’s tune
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon
Time goes on and the happy years are dead
And, one by one, the merry hearts are fled
Silent now is the wild and lonely glen
Where the bright, glad laugh will echo ne’er again
Only dreaming of days gone by
In my heart I hear
Loving voices of old companions
Stealing out of the past once more
And the sound of the dear old music
Soft and sweet as in the days of yore
When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer night
And the Kerry piper’s tuning
Made us long with wild delight
O to think of it, O to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears
O the days of Kerry dancing
O the ring of the piper’s tune
O for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas! like our youth, too soon
Sung here by Fred Feild: