Forty Years a-Rovin'

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough

Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up

We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone

Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

I own I am a rover, of this I know right well

For I take delight in ramblin' round, the truth to you I'll tell

Across the wild Atlantic, or on the Shamrock Shore

The rovin' is my stock, and trade, and here's to many more

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough

Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up

We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone

Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

We've sung at wakes and weddings, and at every fancy hall

For the poor, and for the gentry, sure, we've sung for one and all

From Belfast to Alaska, and from Spain to Mexico

From Halifax out to 'Frisco, and from Auckland to Mayo

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough

Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up

We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone

Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

There's some men climb a mountain, and some who sail the sea

And some would fight for glory in some foreign country

There's some who like the simple life, and never take a dare

But I was born for rovin', boys, and going on the tear

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough

Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up

We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone

Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

The rovin', it dies hard, as I'll have you's all to know

For when it gets into your blood, it's hard to let it go

And time becomes our master, as the years they fade away

But I will be a-rovin', boys, until my dying day

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough

Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up

We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone

Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on