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Paddy O'Brian left Ireland in glee;
He had a strong notion old England to see;
He shipped in the Nellie, for England was bound,
And the whiskey he drank made his head go around,
Laddy whack, fol de dol, fol de rol I dee dee.
O, Paddy been never sailing before;
It made his heart ache when he heard the loud roar;
For the glance of his eye, a whale he did spy:
"I'm going to be ate," says Paddy, "by-and-by"
Laddy whack, fol de dol, fol de rol I dee dee.
O, Paddy run forward and caught hold of the mast
He grasped his arms round and there he held fast
The boat gave a tip, and, losing his grip,
Down in the whale's belly poor Paddy did slip,
Laddy whack, fol de dol, fol de rol I dee dee.
He was down in the whale six months and five days
Till luck one day to his throat he did pop.
The whale give a snort and then give a blow,
And out on the land poor Paddy did go.
Laddy whack, fol de dol, fol de rol I dee dee.
O, Paddy is landed and safe on the shore;
He swears that he'll never go to sea any more.
The next time he wishes old England to see,
It will be when the railroad runs over the sea.
Laddy whack, fol de dol, fol de rol I dee dee.
Collected in 1929 from John Edison of Fleur de Lys, NL, and published in Ballads And Sea Songs Of Newfoundland by Elisabeth Bristol Greenleaf and Grace Yarrow Mansfield (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1933; Folklore Associates, Hatboro, PA, 1968.)
