The Parting Glass
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Standard Notation
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Standard Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Song Sheet
Irish
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
Of all the money that e'er I spent,
I've spent it in good company
And all the harm that ever I've done,
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall.
So fill to me the parting glass.
Good night and joy be with you all.
If I had money enough to spend
And leisure to sit awhile,
There is a fair maiden in the town
That sorely has my heart beguiled.
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips,
I own she has my heart enthralled.
So fill to me the parting glass.
Good night and joy be with you all.
Oh, all the comrades that e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had,
Would wish me one more day to stay.
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not,
I'll gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all.
"The Parting Glass" is a Scottish traditional song,
often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It was
possibly the most popular parting song sung in Ireland and
Scotland before Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne".
The song is particularly popular in Ireland and amongst
Irish communities.
The earliest known printed version was as a broadside in the
1770s and it first appeared in book form in "Scots Songs" by Herd.
The text is older than its 1770 appearance in broadside, and it
was recorded in the Skene Manuscript, a collection of
Scottish airs written at various dates between 1615 and 1635.
It was known at least as early as 1605, when a portion of the
first stanza was written in a farewell letter, as a poem now
known as "Armstrong's Goodnight".
The earliest known appearance of the tune today associated with
this text is as a fiddle tune called "The Peacock" which is
included in James Aird's A Selection of Scots, English, Irish and
Foreign Airs, vol. 2 (1782).
It has been recorded by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem,
The Dubliners, Steeleye Span, Sinéad O'Connor and others.
I learned it from The Clancy Brothers.
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