Raised on songs & stories, heroes of re-known   The passing tales & glories that once was Dublin town   The hallowed halls & houses, the haunting childrens' rhymes   That once was part of Dublin in the rare old times      [Chorus:]   Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines   I remember Dublin city in the rare old times      My name it is Sean Demspey, as Dublin as can be   Born hard & late in Pimlico, in a house that ceased to be   By trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancy   Like my house that fell to progress, my trade a memory      [Chorus]      I courted Peggy Dignan, as pretty as you please   A rogue & a child of Mary, from the rebel liberties   I lost her to a student chap with a skin as black as coal   When he took her off to Birmingham, she took away my soul      [Chorus]      Fare thee well sweet Anna Liffey, I can no longer stay   & watch the new glass cages, that spring up along the key   My mind's too full of memories, too old to hear new chimes   I'm part of what was Dublin in the rare ould times      [Chorus]