"Forty Years A-Rovin'" lyrics

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough
Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up
We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone
Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

I own I am a rover, of this I know right well
For I take delight in ramblin' round, the truth to you I'll tell
Across the wild Atlantic, or on the Shamrock Shore
The rovin' is my stock, and trade, and here's to many more

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough
Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up
We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone
Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

We've sung at wakes and weddings, and at every fancy hall
For the poor, and for the gentry, sure, we've sung for one and all
From Belfast to Alaska, and from Spain to Mexico
From Halifax out to 'Frisco, and from Auckland to Mayo

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough
Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up
We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone
Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

There's some men climb a mountain, and some who sail the sea
And some would fight for glory in some foreign country
There's some who like the simple life, and never take a dare
But I was born for rovin', boys, and going on the tear

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough
Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up
We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone
Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on

The rovin', it dies hard, as I'll have you's all to know
For when it gets into your blood, it's hard to let it go
And time becomes our master, as the years they fade away
But I will be a-rovin', boys, until my dying day

Forty years a-rovin', we haven't had enough
Forty years a-rovin', and we'll never give it up
We've rambled all around, and we've been to Hell and gone
Forty years a-rovin', and still we're roving on