| As I rode down to Galway town to seek for recreation
|
| On the seventeenth of August my heart was elevated
|
| There were multitudes aembled with their tickets at the station
|
| Me eyes began to dazzle and I’m going to see the races
|
| With me whack-fa-the-da-for-the-diddle-ee-iddle-day
|
| There were passengers from Limerick and passengers from Nenagh
|
| The boys of Connemara and the flair of married Ladies
|
| There were people from Cork City who were loyal true and faithful
|
| Who brought home the Fenian prisoners from dying in foreign nations
|
| It’s there you’ll see the pipers and the fiddlers competing
|
| The nimble footed dancers a-tripping o’er the daisies
|
| There were others crying cigars and lights and bills for all the races
|
| Colours of the jockeys and the prize and horses' ages.
|
| It’s there you’ll see the jockeys and they’re mounted out so stately
|
| The pink, the blue, the orange and green, the emblem of our nation
|
| When the bell was rung for starting, all the horses seemed impatient
|
| I thought they never stood on ground their speed was so amazing.
|
| There was half a million people there from all denominations
|
| The Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, and Presbyterian
|
| There was yet no animosity, no matter what persuasion
|
| But sportsman’s hospitality and induce of fresh acquaintance. |