The Mero

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1. Somebody under the bed, whoever can it be?

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I feel so very nervous, I call for Joanee.

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Joanee lights the candle, but there's nobody there.

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Hey! Hi! Diddeleedai, and out goes she.

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2. Skipping rope still turning, children at their play,

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in and out of Clarendon Street, in and out to pray.

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I haven't prayed for twenty years, or sung a happy song,

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since praying went with innocence, and the devil played along.

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3. And we all went up to the Mero, hey there! Who's your man?

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It's only Johnny 'Fourtycoats', sure he's a desperate man.

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Bang Bang shoots the buses with his golden key.

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Hey! Hi! Diddeleeaye, and out goes she.

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4. Me father was a ‘stater, and me mother loved a tan,

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she loved her Hafner's sausages and her soldier fancy man.

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Norah’s up in Jacob’s, and Mary's on the town,

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and I joined the transport union, when they said my nose was brown.

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5. And we all went up to the Mero, hey there! Who's your man ?

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It's Alfie Byrne out walking, sure he's a decent man.

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Bang Bang shoots the buses with his golden key.

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Hey! Hi! Diddeleeaye, and out goes she.

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6. I've a tanner for the Mero, and me confo money's hid,

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if Mary’s in the family way, she can blame the Cisco kid.

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I'll be langers in the morning, me longers need a patch.

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Ah, Jaysus! There's Con Martin, I hope yez win the match.

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7. Me uncle had a wolfhound, that never had to pee,

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but Harry Lemon snatched it down on Eden quay.

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Now I have me primo, and me scapulars are blue,

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for helping the black babies, and Dolly Fossett too.

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8. And we all went up to the Mero, hey there! Who's your man?

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It's Brendan Behan out walking, sure he's a ginger man.

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Bang Bang shoots the buses with his golden key.

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Hey! Hi! Diddeleeaye, and out goes she.

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9. It's true that Dublin's changing since the pillar was blown down,

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by the winds of violence that are buggerin' up the town.

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We used to solve a difference with a diggin' match and a jar,

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now they’re all playing "Bang Bang", that's going too bleedin' far.

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10. And we all go up to the Mero, hey there! Who's your man?

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It's only me guardian angel, “Get a large one fer yer man.”

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There's no use bleedin' rushin', sure, so now it's the holy hour,

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a pleneary indulgence and another baby power.

(Dubliners)

GLOSSARY

Clarendon Street ~ Catholic Church off Grafton Street.

Bang Bang~Dublin character who used to point at buses and pretend to shoot them

The Mero~Mary Street, the cinema

Johnny Fortycoats~Dublin tramp

Hairy Lemon~ditto

‘stater~Free-stater (political affiliation)

Hafner’s~Dublin-made sausages (still around!)

Langers~drunk

Longers~Trousers

Jacobs~Biscuit factory and significant Dublin employer; long gone

Con Martin/Brendan Behan/Alfie Byrne~contemporary Dublin characters

Family way~pregnant

Cisco Kid~comtemporary cinema release (probably the locus for Mary’s predicament)

Black babies~schools collected money for the missions to the poor in Africa

Dolly Fossett~ contemporary Dublin Brothel keeper

Holy Hour~Dublin pubs in those shut for two hours in the afternoon to discourage all-day drinking and to ensure workers returned to work in the afternoons

Plenary Indulgence~(used sarcastically) religious reward for prayer

Baby Power~the smallest (one eighth of a full bottle) bottle of Power’s Whiskey on sale.