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'.