William Bloat chords by The Clancy Brothers And Tommy Makem

• Capo on 2nd

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Difficulty: Novice

Verse 1:
G                       C
In a mean abode on the Shankill Road
         G        D        G
Lived a man named William Bloat
     C             G           Em
He had a wife, the bane of his life
       G           D
Who always got his goat
        G                    C
So one day at dawn, with her nightdress on
     G      D       G
He slit her bloody throat

Verse 2:
G                       C
With a razor gash he settled her hash
    G         D        G
and never was crime so quick
        C                  G     Em
but the steady drip on the pillowslip
       G                  D
of her lifeblood made him sick
        G                    C
And the pool of gore on the bedroom floor
     G           D        G
grew clotted and cold and thick

Verse 3:
G                     C
Now, he was glad that he'd done what he had
      G           D         G
As she lay there stiff and still
     C                   G     Em
'Til suddenly awe of the angry law
           G                  D
Filled his soul with an awful chill
        G                C
And to finish the fun so well begun
     G      D         G
He decided himself to kill

Verse 4:
G                             C
So he took the sheet from his wife's cold feet
       G           D     G
And he twisted it into a rope
        C                      G     Em
And he hanged himself from the pantry shelf
           G             D
'Twas an easy end, let's hope
          G                  C
With his dying breath and he facing death
   G        D          G
He solemnly cursed the Pope

Verse 5:
G                              C
But the strangest turn of the whole concern
   G     D   G
Is only just beginning
     C                   G        Em
He went to hell, but his wife got well
           G                  D
And she's still alive and sinning
        G                C
For the razor blade was British-made
     G      D         G
But the rope was Belfast linen