The group enjoying the view of the coast from above a fishing dock
Last weekend a group of us American tourists took a short DART ride to Dalkey (daw-key... while asking for directions a kind Dalkey resident told me how to say it so that I don't sound like a tourist... too late!), proud home of Bono and other upperclass citizens... such as the Embassy of Morocco (apparently they're too good to have theirs in Dublin like the rest of us...), many owners of bentleys and other people who live in houses that look like castles. In fact, we walked right by the Dalkey Castle without even knowing (that's how small it is), but many of the houses along the coast we stopped to stare at and take pictures (unless they were home- in that case, we'd walk by, act cool, maybe take an incognito picture or two).
Moroccan Embassy
We took a little stroll along the coast, accidentally passed Bono's house (Liz and Kate went back to check it out, but the rest of us went straight to the pub... turns out he wasn't home and his house was covered in plastic being renovated), talked to a woman with the cutest child and a pregnant dog, got a little lost, but finally made it back to the pub where we started: Patrick Ivory's. This is where we spent 75% of our trip to Dalkey... first stop and last stop. For lunch we had the best service we've had since arriving in Ireland (usually they don't do refills and practically ignore you until you raise your hand or yell across the room), so we decided to go back to watch the Ireland vs. France rugby match which was at Stade de France. This moment marked the first rugby match I have ever seen and the time when I fell in love with a French rugby player named Dimitri Szarzewski (also known as the only reason I watched the entire game... except sometimes I couldn't even look at the screen because he's that goodlooking).
After the match there was an Irish trad band playing called Skin the Goat... this is when we meet Damien (the only reason I remember his name is because he gave us his email address so that we could update him on our trip later on)... the hardcore rugby fan hothead pothead. Damien, around age 30, who was making out with his girlfriend when he wasn't talking to our table asked me to request a song called "the Rattling Bog" (with full lyrics) to Skin the Goat... why? because he said that they wouldn't accept his request if he went up there... probably true. So of course I did it, not even knowing that I was asking the band to play an old Irish sing-a-long with 11 verses. They looked at me with fear and said "we'll give it a go." I sat back down and listened to Damien's favorite song and watched as he sadly knew most of it. Every 15 or 20 seconds he would tap me on the shoulder and sing a bit louder, reminding me that he knew the words. It went a little something like this:
Chorus:
Hey ho, the rattling bog,
The bog down in the valley-o,
Hey ho, the rattling bog,
The bog down in the valley-o.
1. Now in this bog there was a tree.
A rare tree. A rattling tree.
Tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.
Chorus:
(then 9 more verses)
11. Now in this eye there was a gleam.
A rare gleam. A rattling gleam.
Gleam in an eye.
Eye on a flea.
Flea on a feather.
Feather on a bird.
Bird on an egg.
Egg in a nest.
Nest on a twig.
Twig on a branch.
Branch on a limb.
Limb on a tree.
Tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.
Chorus:
Now I have made just a quick rendition in honor of the love that was formed that day in that bar through that television screen:
Chorus:
Hey ho, the rattling bog,
The bog down in the valley-o,
Hey ho, the rattling bog,
The bog down in the valley-o.
1. Now in this bog there was a stade,
A rare stade. A rattling stade
Stade in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.
(chorus)
...(no need to carry this on for 6 verses)…
8. Now in this piercing blue eye there was a gleam.
A rare gleam. A rattling gleam.
Gleam in a piercing blue eye
Piercing blue eye on a perfect face
Perfect face on a model’s body
Model’s body of a athletic god
Athletic god of a winning team
Winning team on a rugby field
Rugby field in a stade
Stade in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.
Hey ho, the rattling bog,
The bog down in the valley-o,
Hey ho, the rattling bog,
The bog down in the valley-o.
And I just found out that I'm not lying about the modeling part...
enjoy! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment