How to Play "The Irish Rover" (Mandolin)

Canadian folk musician Jesse Ferguson shows how he plays the traditional Irish drinking song "The Irish Rover" on mandolin. Lyrics and chords below.

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:35 Chords Used
3:49 Strum pattern (first verse)
4:44 Strum pattern (rest of song)
9:09 Full speed verse
11:03 Full speed chorus
12:15 Wrapping up

The Irish Rover
(traditional, arrang. J. Ferguson, Jan. 2014)

110 bpm

V1. [let chords ring on this verse only]
G C
In the year of our Lord eighteen-hundred and six
G D
we set sail from the cold quay of Cork.
G C
We were bound far away with a cargo of bricks
G D G
for the fine city hall in New York.
G D
We’d an elegant craft; she was rigged fore-and-aft.
G D
And how the trade winds drove her.
G C
She had twenty-three masts and withstood sev’ral blasts,
G* D G
and we called her the Irish Rover.

*begin strumming here.

Chorus:
G C G
And fare thee well, me pretty little girl,
G D D7
for I must sail away.
G C G
And fare the well, me pretty little girl,
G D G
for I must sail away.

Interlude: G D G

V2.
There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee;
there was Hogan from County Tyrone.
There was Johnny McGurk, who was scared stiff of work,
and a man from West Mead named Malone.
There was Slugger O'Toole, who was drunk as a rule,
and fightin’ Bill Tracey from Dover.
And your man named McCann from the banks of the Bann
was the skipper of the Irish Rover.

Chorus:

V3.
We had one million bales of old nanny goats’ tails.
We had two million buckets of stone.
We had three million sides of old blind horses’ hides,
and four million barrels of bone.
We had five million hogs, six million dogs,
seven million barrels of porter.
We had eight million bags of the best Sligo rags
in the hold of the Irish Rover.

Chorus:

V4.
Well, we’d sailed seven years when the mizzens broke out,
and the ship lost its way in a fog (blind fog!).
And the whole of the crew was reduced down to two:
‘twas meself and the captain’s old dog.
Then the ship struck a rock**—Lord, what a shock!
I nearly tumbled over.
We spun ten times around, and the poor old dog was drowned.
Now I’m the last of the Irish Rover.

**pause guitar on “rock.”

Chorus:

Repeat final line twice. Final repetition played:

For I must sail aw---ay.
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Видео How to Play "The Irish Rover" (Mandolin) канала Jesse Ferguson