As I was walking down the road
A feeling fine and larky, oh
A recruiting sergeant came up to me
Says he, you'd look fine in khaki, oh
For the King he is in need of men
Come read this proclamation, oh
A life in Flanders for you then
Would be a fine vacation, oh

That may be so says I to him
But tell me sergeant dearie-oh
If I had a pack stuck upon my back
Would I look fine and cheerie, oh
For they'd have you train and drill until
They had you one of the Frenchies, oh
It may be warm in Flanders
But it's draughty in the trenches, oh

The sergeant smiled and winked his eye
His smile was most provoking, oh
He twiddled and twirled his wee mustache
Says he, you're only joking, oh
For the sandbags are so warm and high
The wind you won't feel blowing, oh
I winked at a Cailin passing by
Says I, what if it's snowing, oh

Come rain or hail or wind or snow
I'm not going out to Flanders, oh
There's fighting in Dublin to be done
Let your sergeants and your commanders go
Let Englishmen fight English wars
It's nearly time they started, oh
I saluted the sergeant a very good night
And there and then we parted, oh

As I went down to Galway Town
To seek for recreation
On the seventeenth of August
Me mind being elevated
There were passengers assembled
With their tickets at the station
And me eyes began to dazzle
And they off to see the races

With me wack fol the do fol
The diddle idle day

There were passengers from Limerick
And passengers from Nenagh
The boys of Connemara
And the Clare unmarried maidens
There were people from Cork City
Who were loyal, true and faithful
Who brought home the Fenian prisoners
From dying in foreign nations

With me wack fol the do fol
The diddle idle day

And it's there you'll see the pipers
And the fiddlers competing
And the sporting wheel of fortune
And the four and twenty quarters
And there's others without scruple
Pelting wattles at poor Maggie
And her father well contented
And he gazing at his daughter

With me wack fol the do fol
The diddle idle day

With me wack fol the do fol
The diddle idle day

And it's there you'll see the jockeys
And they mounted on so stably
The pink, the blue, the orange, and green
The colors of our nation
The time it came for starting
All the horses seemed impatient
Their feet they hardly touched the ground
The speed was so amazing!

With me wack fol the do fol
The diddle idle day

There was half a million people there
Of all denominations
The Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, the Presbyterian
Yet no animosity
No matter what persuasion
But failte hospitality
Inducing fresh acquaintance

With me wack fol the do fol
The diddle idle day