Kitty of Coleraine
As beautiful Kitty one morning was tripping,
With a pitcher of milk from the fair of Coleraine,
When she saw me she stumbled, the pitcher down tumbled,
And all the sweet buttermilk watered the plain.
“Oh, what shall I do now? ’twas looking at you, now!
Sure, sure, such a pitcher I’ll ne’er meet again;
’Twas the pride of my dairy! O Barney M’Cleary,
You’re sent as a plague to the girls of Coleraine!”
I sat down beside her, and gently did chide her
That such a misfortune should give her such pain;
A kiss then I gave her, and, ere I did leave her,
She vowed for such pleasure she’d break it again.
’Twas hay-making season—I can’t tell the reason—
Misfortunes will never come single, ’tis plain;
For very soon after poor Kitty’s disaster
The devil a pitcher was whole in Coleraine.
Edward Lysaght.