I wish I was in Carrickfergus,   Only for nights in Ballygrand   I would swim over the deepest ocean,   The deepest ocean, for my love to find      But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over   Neither have I the wings to fly   If I could fine me a handsome boatman   To ferry me over, to my love and die      My childhood days bring back sad reflections   Of happy times spend long ago,   My childhood friends and my own reflections   Have all passed on now like melting snow   But I’ll spend my days in endless roaming,   Soft is the grass, my bed is free   Ah, to be back now in Carrickfergus,   On that long road down to the sea      But I’ll spend my days in endless roaming,    Soft is the grass, my bed is free.   But I am sick now and my days are numbered,   Come all you young men and lay me down