The Parting Glass: An Irish and Scottish Folk Song

A few verses of “The Parting Glass!” I dearly love this traditional Irish and Scottish folk song-  And here I’ve included a sweet verse that’s often excluded about the narrator’s sweetheart (at least, I don’t hear it very often over here in the U.S.). 

To my understanding, this is a traditional Scottish folk song that became very popular in Ireland- so much so that it’s very often associated with Ireland. One source I’ve read says that it was amongst the most popular parting songs of Scotland before Robert Burns adapted “Auld Lang Syne.” The Clancy Brothers made this song popular in the 1960s and 1970s when they recorded it on various albums. 

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Lyrics:

Oh all the money e'er I had

I spent it in good company

And all the harm that e'er 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

Goodnight and joy be with you all

If I had money enough to spend

And leisure time to stay a while

There is a fair maid in this town

I own she has my heart beguiled

Here rosy cheeks, her ruby lips

I own she has my heart enthralled

So fill to me the parting glass

Goodnight and joy be with you all