His kiss is sweet, his word is kind,
His love is rich to me;
I could not in a palace find
A truer heart than he.
The eagle shelters not his nest
From hurricane and hail,
More bravely than he guards my breast —
The Boatman of Kinsale.
The wind that round the Fastnet sweeps
Is not a whit more pure —
The goat that down Cnoc Sheehy leaps
Has not a foot more sure.
No firmer hand nor freer eye
E'er faced an autumn gale —
De Courcy's heart is not so high —
The Boatman of Kinsale.
The brawling squires may heed him not,
The dainty stranger sneer —
But who will dare to hurt our cot
When Myles O'Hea is here?
The scarlet soldiers pass along;
They'd like, but fear to rail;
His blood is hot, his blow is strong —
The Boatman of Kinsale.
His hooker's in the Scilly van
When seines are in the foam;
But money never made the man,
Nor wealth a happy home.
So, blest with love and liberty,
While he can trim a sail,
He'll trust in God, and cling to me —
The Boatman of Kinsale.