Teddy O’Neill

I dreamt all last night, oh, bad ‘cess to my dreaming
I’d die if I thought t’would come surely to pass
I dreamt while the tears down my pillow were rolling
That Teddy was courting another fair lass

And didn’t I wake with a weeping and wailing?
The pain in my heart was too deep to conceal
My mother cried, “Nora, dear, what is your ailing?”
But all I could answer was “Teddy O’Neill”

I’ve seen the old cabin beyond the wee boreen
I’ve seen the old crossroads where we used to dance
I’ve rambled the lane where he called me his storeen
And my girlish heart felt the thrill of romance

But now all around is so sad and so dreary
All dark and all silent – no piper, no reel
Not even the sun through the casement shines cheery
Since I left my darling boy, Teddy O’Neill

Shall I ever forget when the big ship was ready
And the time it was come for my love to depart?
How I cried like a child, “Oh, goodbye to you, Teddy”
With a tear on my cheek and a stone in my heart

He said t’was to better, his fate he went roving
But what would be gold to the joy I would feel
If he’d only come back to me tender and loving
Yet poor, but my own darling Teddy O’Neill