Donegal Danny

            D                               G            D
    I remember the night that he came in
                     G                     D
    from the wintry cold and damp.
                                          Bm
    A giant of a man in an oilskin coat
                G                                      A
    and a bundle that told he was a tramp
             D                                 G           D
    He stood at the bar and he called a pint,
              G                                    D
     then turned and gazed at the fire.
                                               Bm
    "On a night like this to be safe and dry,
               G                       A
    is my one and only desire."

        D                                   G            D
So here's to those that are dead and gone,
                        Bm        A
the friends that I loved dear.
          D                             G             D
And here's to you and I'll bid you adieu,
                            A                    D          Bm
saying Donegal Danny's been here me boys,
  D            A                    D
Donegal Danny's been here.

        D                                  G                  D
    Then in a voice that was hushed and low,
                   G                           D
    he said 'Listen I'll tell you a tale,
                                                         Bm
    how a man of the sea became a man of the roads,
             G                            A
    and never more will set sail.
            D                                    G     D             G                     D
    I've fished out of Howth and Killybegs, Ardglass and Baltimore.
                                        Bm
    But the cruel sea has beaten me,
                  G                                A
     and I'll end my days on the shore."

             D                           G                  D
    One fateful night in the wind and the rain,
                G                           D
    we set sail from Killybegs town.
                                                          Bm
    There were five of us from sweet Donegal,
             G                         A
    and one from County Down.
                    D                        G               D
    We were fishermen who worked the sea,
             G                           D
    and never counted the cost.
                                                 Bm
    But I never thought ere that night was done,
            G                                          A
    that my fine friends would all be lost.

                      D                           G             D
    Then the storm it broke and drove the boat,
               G                                           D
    to the rocks about ten miles from shore.
                                            Bm
    As we fought the tide we hoped inside,
          G                                A
    to see our homes once more.
              D                                G             D
    Then we struck a rock and holed the bow,
            G                                           D
    and all of us knew that she'd go down.
                                                Bm
    So we jumped right into the icy sea,
              G                                         A
    and prayed to God we wouldn't drown.

                 D                      G       D
    But the raging sea was rising still,
          G                              D
    as we struck out for the land.
                                                Bm
    And she fought with all her cruelty,
           G                        A
    to claim that gallant band.
          D                                G       D
    By St John's Point in the early dawn,
         G                                   D
    I dragged myself on the shore.
                                             Bm
    And I cursed the sea for what she'd done,
             G                                    A
    and vowed to sail her never more.

    D                                               G          D
    Ever since that night I've been on the road,
      G                                     D
    travelling and trying to forget,
                                     Bm                     G                      A
    that awful night I lost all my friends, I see their faces yet.
            D                                   G         D
    And often at night when the sea is high,
                   G                             D
    and the rain is tearing at my skin,
                                 Bm
   I hear the cries of drowning men,
      G                            A
   floating over on the wind'.