Lyrics to old drinking song (Irish? Scottish?)

I’m looking for the lyrics to a traditional drinking song called “Seven drunken nights”. I think it’s either Irish or Scottish (or would that be Scots?). I found a web page with parts of the lyrics, but it’s not complete ( http://amtgard.pinkpig.com/bards/filk3.htm ). Here’s the first verse if you don’t recall it from the title alone:

Husband: As I went home on Monday night, [MONDAY NIGHT?]
as drunk as drunk could be.
I saw a horse outside the door,
where my old horse should be.
I called my wife and I said to her:[HEY, WIFE!]
Will you kindly tell to me,
who owns that horse outside the door,
where my old horse should be?
Wife: Oh, you’re drunk, you’re drunk
you silly old fool, and still you cannot see.
That’s a lovely sow that my mother sent to me.
H: Well, it’s many a day I’ve traveled, a hundred miles or more,
but a saddle on a sow, sure, I never saw before.

I even heard it on the radio once, and there’s a German version of it, so it must be popular. Thanks a lot for any help!

Go to http://www.dejanews.com and look up alt.lyrics. Then post the question there. They are great. I had a stupid childhood song with about two lines of lyrics and boom in less than 2 hours I had 3 emails with the correct lyrics.

I remember the song well: when I was a kid, my family had an album by Ronnie Drew and the Dubliners (yes, an Irish group), who sang that song… but prefaced it by saying, “We’re only allowed to sing 5 of them.” PResumably there are 2 more verses that got a little too dirty for the censors in the 60s. You already wrote the first verse correctly (though in the version I’d heard, it was “cow” rather than sow). The rest, as I recall, were:

And when I came home on Tuesday night,
As drunk as drunk could be,
I saw a coat upon the floor,
Where my own coat should be.
So, I called my wife and I said to her,
“Would you kindly tell to me,
Who owns that coat upon the floor,
Where my own coat should be?”

She said, “You’re drunk, you’re drunk,
you silly old fool.
Still you cannot see!
That’s a lovely blanket that me mother gave to me.”
Sure, it’s many a day I’ve travelled
A hundred miles or more.
But buttons on a blanket, sure, I never saw before.

And when I came home on Wednesday night,
As drunk as drunk could be,
I saw a pipe upon the chair,
Where my own pipe should be.
So, I called my wife and I said to her,
“Would you kindly tell to me,
Who owns that pipe upon the chair,
Where my own pipe should be?”

She said, “You’re drunk, you’re drunk,
You silly old fool.
Still you cannot see!
That’s a lovely tin whistle that me mother gave to me.”
Sure, it’s many a day I’ve travelled
A hundred miles or more.
But tobacco in a tin whistle,
Sure, I never saw before."

And when I came home on Thursday night,
As drunk as drunk could be.
I saw two boots beside the bed,
Where my own boots should be.
So, I called my wife and I said to her,
“Would you kindly tell to me,
Who owns those boots beside the bed,
Where my own boots should be?”

She said, “You’re drunk, you’re drunk,
You silly old fool.
Still, you cannot see!
That’s a lovely dog
That my mother gave to me.”
Sure, it’s many a day I’ve travelled
A hundred miles or more.
But laces on a dog, sure, I never saw before.

And when I came home on Friday night,
As drunk as drunk could be,
I saw a head upon my bed,
Where my own head should be.
So, I looked at my wife, and I said to her,
“Would you kindly tell to me,
Who owns that head with you in bed,
Where my poor head should be?”

She said, “You’re drunk, you’re drunk,
You silly old fool.
Still you cannot see!
That’s a lovely baby that my mother gave to me.”
Sure, it’s many a day I’ve travelled
A hundred miles or more.
But whiskers on a baby, sure, I never saw before."


Obviously, the narrator is too drunk and stupid to catch on that his wife is screwing around on him while he’s out drinking. The funny thing is, when I was a little kid, I was ALWAYS listening to old Irish drinking songs like this, and sang all the songs, not having any real idea what they were about! I recall that, when I was 7, I got to sing at a backyard “Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystophy PArty” (remember those?), and I sang the Irish drinking song “The Black Velvet Band”- a song about a prostitute who plies some poor guy with liquor, frame him for theft, and get him shipped to prison in Australia!

Geez, and my parents were worried about ROCK lyrics!

Thanks a lot, astorian, for doing all the typing! The Dubliners, eh? That radio version sure sounded like that, but it was some 15 years ago and I can’t really remember.

Now, anyone for the final verses, now that astorian has done most of the work?

astorian’s story about singing a raunchy Irish folk song at a party when young reminds me of a story my wife told me about when she was 4 or 5 years old, growing up in England.

Her parents were Irish and a couple of her uncles were real IRA boosters (this would be about 1968, before things got really nasty in N. Ireland.) One of these uncles thought it would be amusing to teach her some IRA marching songs.

Apparently, the people of Weymouth, England still talk about the day a little girl stood up in the pew during Sunday mass and proceeded to march up and down the aisles singing “Death to the Bloody British Bastards…”

Somebody’s auto-biography relates how in the third grade he memorised and recited for his 4th grade class assignment the lovely poem "The Song of the Cuckold’. His teacher was too stunned to stop him. When it came time to explain the poem ,of course he said it was about the bird that lives in the clock


“Something inciteful that some one else once said”- Suhm Wonn (1397-1334)

::chuckle:: God, I remember this one…grew up in a good Irish household with the Clancy Brothers playing round the clock. They do a version with the final verse:

“When I went home on Saturday night
As drunk as drunk could be
I saw two feet beneath the bed
Where no man’s feet should be
So I called to my wife and I said to her
Would you kindly tell to me
Who owns those feet beneath the bed where no man’s feet should be”

“Ah, yer drunk, yer drunk, ya silly old fool
And still you cannot see
That’s the lovely tax collector that the queen sent to me”

“Well it’s many a day I’ve traveled
100 miles or more.
But an Englishman who could last til three
I’ve never seen before!”

The songs an old one, with many versions. (Child #274 “Our Goodman”) A raunchy one is available from the Mudcat Cafe (highly recommended site for blues and folk fans, with an extensive lyric database) at

http://www.mudcat.org/!!-song99.cfm?stuff=Spring99+D+11960939