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The Ballad of Brendan Bradley

from An Ownerless Corner of Earth by Francy Devine

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about

(Goulding, arr Devine)

lyrics

I met an old man yesterday,
In tears down by Finn river,
His coat was worn, his hair was grey,
He gave out quite a shiver.
I saw a tear form in his eye
And trickle down quite sadly.
‘Oh, woe is me!’ I heard him cry,
‘Oh, where is Brendan Bradley?’

I paused beside this human wreck
And sat myself down near him.
I rubbed my nose and scratched my neck,
And thought how best to cheer him.
Alas I could not find the words,
Although I searched quite madly.
I threw some stale bread to the birds,
And asked, ‘Who’s Brendan Bradley?’

‘You don’t deserve to speak his name,
He was a Finn Harps deity,
The master of his chosen game,
And worshipped by the laity.
He’d head as hard as he could kick,
His feet they were size twenty,
And every game Big Bren did play,
There were goals a-plenty.

For nigh on twenty years he played,
The bane of most defences,
Perfection in his chosen trade,
Astounding people’s senses.
We won the Cup in seventy-four
Against St. Pat’s Athletic.
Twice that day did Brendan score,
With grace and style balletic.

And now he’s gone and Harps are left
Trapped in the First Division.
Our forward line is quite bereft
Of cunning and incision.
McHugh can’t win games on his own -
Not wishing to deride him -
But no, he can’t do that alone,
He needs Big Bren beside him.

‘But gone is gone and past is past’,
I answered him quite gravely.
‘A pot of honey will not last,
The future beckons bravely.
So put away that handkerchief,
It doesn’t suit you really.
Just think, with gladness and relief,
You could have Dykes and Keely’.

But when I got home I scoured my books
Before I wrote this poem
I gazed his feats of skill and grace
They made for quite a tome
Imperious runs and neat wee chips
I fell for him quite badly
Now as I sing the tears downstream
‘Oh, where is Brendan Bradley?’

credits

from An Ownerless Corner of Earth, released February 27, 2020

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Francy Devine Howth, Ireland

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