G       D           G
Oh me and my cousin one Arthur McBride
      C         G        Am        C
As we went a-walking down by the seaside,
      G         C        G         Em
Now mark what followed and what did betide
      G                     D
For it being on Christmas morning.
      G                    Em
And for recreation we went on a tramp
      C         G         Am          C
And we met Sergeant Napper and Corporal Cramp.
      G         C         G          Em
And the little wee drummer intending camp
      G                          D      G
For the day being pleasant and charming.


[Verse 2]
      G              D            G
“Good morning, good morning” the Sergeant did cry.”
      C         G        Am        C
“And the same to you gentlemen,” we did reply
      G         C        G         Em
Intending no harm as we meant to pass by
      G                     D
For it being on Christmas morning.
      G                    Em
But says he “My fine fellows if you will enlist
      C         G         Am          C
It’s ten guineas in gold I will slip in your fists
      G         C         G          Em
And a crown in the bargain for to kick up the dust
      G                          D      G
And drink the King’s health in the morning.


[Verse 3]
    G            D        G
For a soldier he leads a very fine life
      C         G        Am        C
And he always is blessed with a charming young wife,
      G         C        G         Em
And he pays all his debts without sorrow and strife
      G                     D
And always lives pleasant and charming.
      G                    Em
And a soldier he always is decent and clean
      C         G         Am          C
In the finest of clothing he’s constantly seen
      G         C         G          Em
While other poor fellows look dirty and mean
      G                     D      G
And sup on thin gruel in the morning.”


[Verse 4]
    G             D           G
Says Arthur, “I wouldn’t be proud of your clothes
      C         G        Am        C
For you’ve only the lend of them, as I suppose,
      G         C        G         Em
And you dare not change them one night for you know
      G                     D
If you do you’ll be flogged in the morning.
      G                    Em
And although that we are single and free,
      C         G         Am          C  
We take great delight in our own company
      G         C         G          Em
And we have no desire strange faces to see
      G                        D      G
Although that your offers are charming.


[Verse 5]
      G            D       G
And we have no desire to take your advance,
      C         G        Am        C
All hazards and dangers we barter on chance.
      G         C        G         Em
For you would have no scruples for to send us to France
      G                     D
Where we would get shot without warning.”
      G                    Em
“Oh no,” says the Sergeant, “I’ll have no such chat
      C            G            Am          C  
And I neither will take it from spalpeen or brat
      G         C         G          Em
For if you insult me with one other word
      G                       D      G
I’ll cut off your heads in the morning.”


[Verse 6]
      G              D     G
And then Arthur and I we soon drew our odds
      C         G        Am        C
And we scarce gave them time for to draw their own blades
      G         C        G         Em
When a trusty shillelagh came over their heads
      G                     D
And bade them take that as fair warning.
      G                    Em
And their old rusty rapiers that hung by their sides
      C         G         Am          C
We flung them as far as we could in the tide
      G         C         G          Em
“Now take them out, devils,” cried Arthur McBride,
      G                     D      G
“And temper their edge in the morning.”


[Verse 7]
      G              D         G
And the little wee drummer we flattened his pouch
      C         G        Am        C
And we made a football of his rowdy dow dow
      G         C        G         Em
Threw it in the tide for to rock and to roll
      G                     D
And bade it a tedious returning.
      G                    Em
And we having no money, paid them off in cracks
      C         G         Am          C
And we paid no respect to their two bloody backs,
      G         C         G          Em
But we lathered them there like a pair of wet sacks
      G                          D      G
And left them for dead in the morning.


[Verse 8]
      G         D           G
And so to conclude and to finish disputes
      C         G        Am        C
We obligingly asked if they wanted recruits,
      G         C        G         Em
For we were the lads who would give them hard clouts
      G                     D
And bid them look sharp in the morning.
      G                    Em
Oh me and my cousin one Arthur McBride
      C         G         Am          C
As we went a-walking down by the seaside,
      G         C         G          Em
Now mark what followed and what did betide
      G                   D      G
For it being on Christmas morning.