Chorus:
There be sober men aplenty,
and dunkards barely twenty.
There are men of over ninety
who have never yet kissed a girl.
But give me the Ramblin' Rover,
from Orkney down to Dover
we will roam the country over,
and together we'll face the world.
There be many who fain enjoyment,
from merciless employment.
Their admission was this deployment,
from the minute they left the school.
So they save and scrape and ponder,
while the rest go out and squander,
see the world and rove and wander,
and were happier as a rogue.
Chorus
Well, I've roved through all tarnation,
seen the light in all creation.
I've enjoyed the wee sensation,
when my company did prove kind.
And when courtin' was my pleasure,
I drank another measure
to the good friends that we treasure
for they always are on our minds.
Chorus
So when troubles do befall me,
to the high road I do haul me.
Robbin' Jonny's what you call me,
'Tis me blessing and me bane.
Thought my comrades have been many,
I'll take a drink with any,
'Till I've spent me last wee penny
and life I'll not see again.
Chorus
So when you're bent up with arthritis,
and your bowels have got collitis,
you've got gallopin' gollipanitis,
and you're thinkin' it's time you died.
If you've been a man of action,
as you're lyin' there in traction,
you can gain some satisfaction
thinkin' "B'Jesus, at least I tried!"
Chorus