Aye, Dry! Drink Old Portland Dry

There are a couple of rewrites of folksong chestnuts that some in our group have rewritten to suit the local flavor. Frequently the lyrics are requested for these unpublished works.

Here's one such a song. The tune is Drink Old England Dry [midi]. The localization of the words was written by Lev Koszegi.

Now come, me brave boys, as I've told you before
Come drink, me brave boys, and we'll boldly call for more
Californians have come to our town; they say that they will try
Will try
They say that they will come and drink old Portland dry

CHORUS

Aye, dry, aye dry, me boys, aye, dry
They say they will come and drink old Portland dry. [repeat the last line of the preceding verse]

We'll take them all to Bridgeport and for ale we will shout
Tap the Blue Heron and bring forth your finest stout
When these foreigners their first sip take, contented they will sigh
Will sigh
We'll tell them "Do your best!" to drink old Portland dry.

CHORUS

From Washington descend upon us drinkers of renown
We'll take them to the Lucky Lab on either side of town
The overflowing pitchers and the peanut shells will fly
Will fly
Good luck to them, we'll say, to drink old Portland dry.

CHORUS

Canadians are quite polite and ever so genteel
At Portland Brewing Company their mettle shall reveal
They'll shout for more MacTarnahan's and raise a ruckus high
So high
Throw manners to the winds to drink old Portland dry.

CHORUS

Wherever they may come from, we shall leave no empty glass
At Widmer's or McMenamin's, out by Cornelius Pass
For even if they drink a pint a minute 'till they die
They die
We know that they can never drink old Portland dry.

Cheers!