Oh, missus McGrath,' the sergeant said,

Would you like to make a soldier out of your son Ted,

With a scarlet coat and a big cocked hat,

Now missus McGrath, wouldn't you like that?

CHORUS:

Wid yer too ri aa, fol the diddle aa,

Too ri, too ri, too ri, aa.

Wid yer too ri aa, fol the diddle aa,

Too ri, too ri, too ri, aa.

So Mrs. McGrath lived on the sea-shore, For the space of seven long years or more, Till she saw a big ship sailing into the bay, 'Here's my son Ted, wisha, clear the way. REPEAT CHORUS

'Oh captain dear, where have you been, Have you been sailing the Mediterreen, Or have you any news of my son Ted, Is the poor boy living, or is he dead?'

REPEAT CHORUS

Then up comes Ted without any legs, And in their place he has two wooden pegs. She kissed him a dozen times or two, Saying 'Glory be to God, 'shure it couldn't be you.' REPEAT CHORUS

'Oh then were you drunk or were you blind, When yeh left yer two fine legs behind, Or was it walking upon the sea, Wore yer two fine legs from the knees away?' REPEAT CHORUS

'Oh I wasn't drunk or I wasn't blind, When I left my two fine legs behind, For a cannonball on the fifth of May, Took my two fine legs from the knees away. REPEAT CHORUS

'Oh then Teddy me boy,' the widow cried, "Yer two fine legs were yer mammy's pride Them stumps of a tree wouldn't do at all, Why didn't you run from the big cannonball?' REPEAT CHORUS

'All foreign wars I do proclaim Between Don John and the King of Spain, And by herrins I'11 make them rue the time That they swept the legs of a child of mine.' REPEAT CHORUS