The Old Triangle

Brendan Behan

A hungry feelin’
Came o’er me stealin’
And the mice were squealin’
In my prison cell

And the old triangle
Went jingle jangle
All along the banks
Of the Royal Canal

To begin the mornin’
A screw was bawlin’
“Get up you bowsey
And clean up your cell”

And the old triangle
Went jingle jangle
All along the banks
Of the Royal Canal

The lags were sleepin’
Humpy Gussey was creepin’
As I lay there weepin’
For my girl Sal

And the old triangle
Went jingle jangle
All along the banks
Of the Royal Canal

Up in the female prison
There are seventy-five women
‘Tis among them
I wish I did dwell

Then the old triangle
Could go jingle jangle
All along the banks
Of the Royal Canal
All along the banks
Of the Royal Canal

Brendan Behan used this song to punctuate his play The Quare Fella. A “screw” is a prison warder and a “lag” a long term prisoner. This is the version sung by The Dubliners and is a bit different than the much fuller original text. See also The Auld Triangle.