The Juice Of The Barley Lyrics & Chords By Val Doonican

Down In Waterford Town on a cold winter's night
All the turf fires were burning when I first saw the light
And a drunken old midwife went tipsy with joy
As she danced round the floor with her slip of a boy
Singing ban-ya-na mo if an-ga-na (Gaelic)
And the juice of the barley for me
Now when I was a lad about eight years or so
With me books and me pencils to school I did go
To the dirty old school house without any door
Where lay the school master blind drunk on the floor
Singing ban-ya-na mo if an-ga-na
And the juice of the barley for me
Now At learning I wasn't a genius I'm thinking
But I soon bet the master entirely of drinking
Not a wake or a wedding for five miles around
But meself in the corner was sure to be found
Singing ban-ya-na mo if an-ga-na
And the juice of the barley for me
Then One Sunday the preacher said i'd cooked me goose
Said "You'll end up one day with your neck in a noose
And you'll dance a fine jig between heaven and hell"
And his words they did frighten me truth for to tell
Singing ban-ya-na mo if an-ga-na
And the juice of the barley for me
So the very next day when the dawn it did break
I went to the vestry, the pledge for to take
And there in a room they all sat in a bunch
Round a big roaring fire drinking tumblers of punch
Singing ban-ya-na mo if an-ga-na
And the juice of the barley for me
So from that day to this I have wandered alone
I'm a jack of all trades and I'm master of none
With the sky for me roof and the earth for me floor
And I'll finish my days drinking whiskey galore
Singing ban-ya-na mo if an-ga-na
And the juice of the barley for me