[Verse 1]
G Em
Oh me and my cousin one Arthur McBride
C G Am C
As we went a-walking down by the seaside,
G C G Em
Now mark what followed and what did betide
G D
For it being on Christmas morning.
G Em
And for recreation we went on a tramp
C G Am C
And we met Sergeant Napper and Corporal Cramp.
G C G Em
And the little wee drummer intending camp
G D G
For the day being pleasant and charming.
[Verse 2]
G Em
“Good morning, good morning” the Sergeant did cry.”
C G Am C
“And the same to you gentlemen,” we did reply
G C G Em
Intending no harm as we meant to pass by
G D
For it being on Christmas morning.
G Em
But says he “My fine fellows if you will enlist
C G Am C
It’s ten guineas in gold I will slip in your fists
G C G Em
And a crown in the bargain for to kick up the dust
G D G
And drink the King’s health in the morning.
[Verse 3]
G Em
For a soldier he leads a very fine life
C G Am C
And he always is blessed with a charming young wife,
G C G Em
And he pays all his debts without sorrow and strife
G D
And always lives pleasant and charming.
G Em
And a soldier he always is decent and clean
C G Am C
In the finest of clothing he’s constantly seen
G C G Em
While other poor fellows look dirty and mean
G D G
And sup on thin gruel in the morning.”
[Verse 4]
G Em
Says Arthur, “I wouldn’t be proud of your clothes
C G Am C
For you’ve only the lend of them, as I suppose,
G C G Em
And you dare not change them one night for you know
G D
If you do you’ll be flogged in the morning.
G Em
And although that we are single and free,
C G Am C
We take great delight in our own company
G C G Em
And we have no desire strange faces to see
G D G
Although that your offers are charming.
[Verse 5]
G Em
And we have no desire to take your advance,
C G Am C
All hazards and dangers we barter on chance.
G C G Em
For you would have no scruples for to send us to France
G D
Where we would get shot without warning.”
G Em
“Oh no,” says the Sergeant, “I’ll have no such chat
And I neither will take it from spalpeen or brat
G C G Em
For if you insult me with one other word
G D G
I’ll cut off your heads in the morning.”
[Verse 6]
G Em
And then Arthur and I we soon drew our odds
C G Am C
And we scarce gave them time for to draw their own blades
G C G Em
When a trusty shillelagh came over their heads
G D
And bade them take that as fair warning.
G Em
And their old rusty rapiers that hung by their sides
C G Am C
We flung them as far as we could in the tide
G C G Em
“Now take them out, devils,” cried Arthur McBride,
G D G
“And temper their edge in the morning.”
[Verse 7]
G Em
And the little wee drummer we flattened his pouch
C G Am C
And we made a football of his rowdy dow dow
G C G Em
Threw it in the tide for to rock and to roll
G D
And bade it a tedious returning.
G Em
And we having no money, paid them off in cracks
C G Am C
And we paid no respect to their two bloody backs,
G C G Em
But we lathered them there like a pair of wet sacks
G D G
And left them for dead in the morning.
[Verse 8]
G Em
And so to conclude and to finish disputes
C G Am C
We obligingly asked if they wanted recruits,
G C G Em
For we were the lads who would give them hard clouts
G D
And bid them look sharp in the morning.
G Em
Oh me and my cousin one Arthur McBride
C G Am C
As we went a-walking down by the seaside,
G C G Em
Now mark what followed and what did betide
G D G
For it being on Christmas morning.
