Now, Mrs McGrath, the captain said,
Would you like to make a soldier out of your son Ted?
With a scarlet coat and a big cocked hat,
Now Mrs McGrath, wouldn't you like that?

Chorus:
Wi your too-ri-aa, folly the diddle-day
Too-ri, oo-ri, oo-ri-ay

Now Mrs McGrath lived on the seashore
For the space of seven long years or more,
Till she saw a ship coming into the bay,
Say, It's my son Ted, will you clear the way

Chorus

Oh captain, dear, where have you been,
Have you been sailing in the Mediteriaineen,
And have you any news of my son Ted,
Is the poor boy living now or is he dead?

Chorus

Well, up steps Ted, without any legs,
And in their place he's got two wooden pegs.
She kissed him a dozen times or two,
Saying, Glory be to God, sure it couldn't be you,

Chorus

Now was you drunk, or was you blind,
When you left your two fine legs behind,
Or was it walking on the sea,
Wore your two fine legs from the knees away?

Chorus

No, I wasn't drunk, and I wasn't blind
When I left my two fine legs behind,
But a big cannon ball on the fifth of May,
Took me two fine legs from the knees away,

Chorus

Oh Teddy, my boy, the widow cried,
Those two fine legs were your mammy's pride.
The stumps of a tree won't do at all,
Why didn't you run from the big cannon ball?

Chorus

All foreign wars, I do proclaim,
Between Don Juan and the King of Spain,
Bedad I'll make them rue the time,
That they took the legs from a child of mine,

Chorus