Track byNoel Henry's Irish Showband
If I were King of Ireland's Isle and had all things at my will I'd roam for recreation and I'd seek for comfort still But the fortune I would seek the most, you all might understand Is to win the heart of Martha, the Flower of Sweet Straband Her cheeks they are a rosy red, her hair a golden brown And o'er her lilly white shoulders it carelessly flows down She is one the loveliest creatures in the whole creation planned And my heart is captivated by the flower of Sweet Straband If I had you lovely Martha away in Innisown of in some lovely valley in the wild woods of Tyrone I work my whole endeavor and I'd seek to work my plan for my heart is captivated by the Flower of Sweet Straband Oh now I'll go o're the Lagan down by the steamships tall for now I'm bound for Amerikay across the briny foam my ship is bound for Liverpool down by the Isle of Mann so I'll say farewell and God Bless you My Flower of Sweet Straband Well I've been in the Phoenix Park and in Killarney fair The lovely glens of Antrim and the winding banks of Clare In all my earthly travels I never yet met one That could compare, I do declare, with the Flower of Sweet Straband But since I cannot gain her love, no joy there is for me And I must seek forgetfulness in lands across the sea Unless she cares to follow me, I swear by my right hand McKenna's face you'll ne'er more see, my Flower of Sweet Straband So its farewell to sweet Derry Quay, New Mills and Waterside I'll sail out o'er the ocean, whatever may betide I'll sail away from Derry Quay out by the Isle of Man And I'll bid farewell to Martha, the Flower of Sweet Straband