St Brendans Fair Isle chords by The Traditional

St. Brendans Fair Isle


     D                  G       D
When I was a lad on the Emerald Isle,
        Bm           D               Bm
I heard many stories both lovely and wild.
  D                          G             D
A bout the great dragons and monsters that be,
                 Bm            D           Bm
That swallow the ships as they sail on the sea.
     G
'Tho I was an artist with canvas and paints,
                                          D
I sailed with Saint Brendan and his jolly saints.
   G
We told the good people, "Goodbye for a while,
   D          A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
              A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.

     D                       G           D
When we had been sailing for ninety-four days,
        Bm                  D       Bm
We came to a spot where the sea was ablaze.
D                       G                D
Those demons from Hades was dancing with glee
                Bm       D           Bm
And burning the sailors alive on the sea
     G
Then Saint Brendan walked on the festering waves,
                                            D
He threw all the demons right back to their caves,
    G
And all of the saints bore a heavenly smile,
   D          A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
              A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.


    D                        G          D
One night while the brethren were lying asleep,
        Bm                  D         Bm
A great dragon came up from under the deep.
D                     G                       D
He thundered and lightninged and made a great din;
            Bm            D          Bm
He awakened Saint Brendan and all of his men.
    G
The dragon came on with his mouth open wide.
                                         D
We threw in a cross and the great dragon died.
   G
We skinned him and cooked him and feasted awhile
   D          A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
              A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.



   D                      G         D
At last we came onto that beautiful land.
       Bm                 D             Bm
We all went ashore and we walked on the sand.
D                           G        D
We took up our longbows and killed a Zebu.
       Bm            D       Bm
We roasted it up and had hot barbecue.
    G
And after a while we were singing a song,
                                 D
We noticed the island was moving along.
   G
We ate and we drank and we rode in high style,
   D          A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
              A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.


    D                            G          D
Now Brendan said, "Boys, this is much to my wish
    Bm                      D               Bm
"We ride on the back of the world's biggest fish
 D                     G       D
"Hold fast to the rope that is pulling the ship,
       Bm           D           Bm
"We'll need it some day if this fish takes a dip!"
   G
We sailed every ocean, we sailed every sea,
                            D
We sailed every spot that a sailor could be.
   G
In forty-four days we sailed ten million miles,
   D          A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
              A               D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.