Irish Schoolmaster, The



"Come here, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Jist tell me who King David was,
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"King David was a mighty man,
And he was King of Spain, Sir;
His eldest daughter 'Jessie' was
The 'Flower of Dunblane,' Sir."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Sir Isaac Newton, who was he?
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"Sir Isaac Newton was the boy
That climbed the apple-tree, Sir;
He then fell down and broke his crown,
And lost his gravity, Sir."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Jist tell me who ould Marmion was,
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"Ould Marmion was a soldier bold,
But he went all to pot, Sir;
He was hanged upon the gallows tree,
For killing Sir Walter Scott, Sir."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Jist tell me who Sir Rob Roy was;
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"Sir Rob Roy was a tailor to
The King of the Cannibal Islands;
He spoiled a pair of breeches, and
Was banished to the Highlands."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Then, Bonaparte, say, who was he?
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"Ould Bonaparte was King of France
Before the Revolution;
But he was kilt at Waterloo,
Which ruined his constitution."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Jist tell me who King Jonah was;
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"King Jonah was the strangest man
That ever wore a crown, Sir;
For though the whale did swallow him,
It couldn't keep him down, Sir."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Jist tell me who that Moses was;
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"Shure Moses was the Christian name
Of good King Pharaoh's daughter;
She was a milkmaid, and she took
A profit from the water."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Jist tell me now where Dublin is;
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"Och, Dublin is a town in Cork,
And built on the equator;
It's close to Mount Vesuvius,
And watered by the 'craythur.'"
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
And look like a jintleman, Sir;
Jist tell me now where London is;
Now tell me if you can, Sir."
"Och, London is a town in Spain;
'Twas lost in the earthquake, Sir;
The cockneys murther English there,
Whenever they do spake, Sir."
  
"You're right, my boy; hould up your head,
Ye're now a jintleman, Sir;
For in history and geography
I've taught you all I can, Sir.
And if any one should ask you now,
Where you got all your knowledge,
Jist tell them 'twas from Paddy Blake,
Of Bally Blarney College."
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:40 min read
2

Quick analysis:

Scheme aBcBdbcb ABeBxbxb ABcBxbeb ABcBfgxg ABeBxhfh ABcBdbxb ABcBxbxb ABiBxbxb ABiBxbxb Abebxxxx
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,614
Words 540
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

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