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Girl From Donegal (Harry Hibbs)

Young girls draw near and I'll tell you here,
Of a story that makes me sad:
For he sailed away the other day,
My own dear Irish lad.
My heart did break all for his sake,
And tears like rain did fall;
Oh, why did he part yet break the heart,
Of the girl from Donegal?

He was big and strong, when he sang the song,
To delight your heart to hear;
But he stepped so light, and his eyes so bright,
In a voice so sweet and clear.
He could handle a spade or court a maid,
The fairest of them all;
Yet he was inclined to leave behind,
The girl from Donegal.

I wished in vain that he would remain,
But he had to sail away,
And he left me here to pine in fear,
Till he returned someday.
And if in time he doesn't want to,
He needn't return at all;
Oh, why did he part yet break the heart,
Of the girl from Donegal?

####.... Author unknown. Variant of My Girl From Donegal, collected in Northern Ireland ca.1923 by Sam Henry [1878-1952] and published as #H4, on pp.190-191 in Sam Henry's Songs Of The People, edited, transcribed, and annotated by E. Gale Huntingdon [1901-1993]; revised with additions and indices by Lani Herrmann (University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1990) ....####

The YouTube video above features a recording by Harry Hibbs (More Harry Hibbs At The Caribou, trk#7, 1968, Arc Sound Ltd., Toronto, ON; remastered and released in 2002 by Unidisc Studios, Montreal, QC).

See more songs by Harry Hibbs.

A variant was arranged and recorded by Kevin Collins of Placentia, NL (Newfoundland / Irish Favourites, trk#10, 1994, Sawyer Hill Productions, Placentia, NL).

See more songs by Kevin Collins.

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