Lough Foyle Lyrics - Robin Williamson

Words RW, music trad Irish: Nancy's Whiskey 1978 

At age 14 they gave us training 

To number off by threes and give salutes 

To clean and fire the Lee and Enfield 

To answer smartly sir and shine the boots 

Me and all the other poor bastards 

Glengarry bonnets on at bugle call 

I never thought I looked good in khaki 

It hurt the pride as well as it scratched the balls 

I volunteered for the signals section 

To work the radios was a skivers joy 

and on manoeuvres I'd twist the orders 

and put confusion on the soldier boys 

To Northern Ireland for summer training 

Near to Lough Foyle not far from Derry town 

To get the feel of the regular army 

and generally act the bloody clown 

To eat melodious beans and gravy 

To sleep on old grey blankets stiff with stains 

and on the carsy in the morning 

To squat in rows like cows with labor pains 

Me and some lads broke out one evening 

Climbed through the wire and down the lough beside 

We spied some fishers in their long boats 

Casting nets out on the silvery tide 

They soon pulled shoreward and we got to talking 

To row us over the water they'd agree 

They hoist us dry shod in the boat beside them 

And way across the watery waves went we 

Cross to Greencastle in Southern Ireland 

A street of cottages set end to end 

A couple of churches and several boozers 

Where we fell to drinking with our Irish friends 

The best black porter, strong beer and whiskey 

We had a bevy there as drunk as lords 

and all skylarking and cutting capers 

Till that old church clock it chimed for four 

The fishers rowed us back over the water 

and went to fish upon the morning rise 

But we were drunk and devoid of caution 

and we were halted climbing back through the wire 

and me and the lads were all defaulted 

and straight away upon fatigues were led 

To double at our every duty 

With our rifles held obove our heads 

Bur my good luck was not all departed 

I got infected in both the ears 

Some kind of hole in the two of my ear drums 

Till not a single order I could hear 

I sadly smiled and looked downhearted 

While they could curse and shout and rage 

and that's the way I would end a story 

When I was 14 years of age