"Monto (Take Her Up To Monto)" is an Irish folk song, written in 1958 by George Desmond Hodnett, music critic of the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', and popularised by

the Dubliners The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-ye ...

Frank Harte Frank Harte (14 May 1933 – 27 June 2005) was a traditional Irish singer, song collector, architect and lecturer. He was born in Chapelizod, County Dublin, and raised in Dublin. His father, Peter Harte, who had moved from a farming backgroun ...

was also known to sing the song.

Lyrics

Well, if you've got a wing-o,
Take her up to Ring-o
Where the waxies sing-o all the day;
If you've had your fill of

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, And you can't go any further
Give your man the order: "Back to the Quay!"
''And take her up to

Monto Monto was the nickname for the one-time red light district in the northeast of Dublin, Ireland. The Monto was roughly the area bounded by Talbot Street, Amiens Street, Gardiner Street and Seán McDermott Street (formerly Gloucester Street) i ...

, Monto, Monto''
''Take her up to Monto, lan-ge-roo,''
''To you! '' Have you heard of Buckshot Forster,
The dirty old impostor
Took a mot and lost her, up the Furry Glen.
He first put on his bowler
And buttoned up his trousers,
Then whistled for a growler and he said, "My man!"
''Take me up to Monto, Monto, Monto''
''Take me up to Monto, lan-ge-roo,''
''To you!'' You've seen the Dublin Fusiliers,
The dirty old bamboozeleers,

De Wet De Wet is the name of: * Jacob Willemszoon de Wet (c. 1610 – between 1675 and 1691), Dutch painter * Christiaan de Wet (1854–1922), Boer general, rebel leader and politician ** De Wet Decoration, South African military medal named after the ab ...

'll kill them chiselers, one, two, three.
Marching from the Linen Hall
There's one for every cannonball,
And Vicky's going to send them all, o'er the sea.
''But first go up to Monto, Monto, Monto ''
''March them up to Monto, lan-ge-roo, ''
''To you! '' When

Carey Carey may refer to: Names * Carey (given name), a given name * Carey (surname), a surname ** List of people with surname Carey Places Canada * Carey Group, British Columbia; in the Pacific * Carey Island (Nunavut) in James Bay United Kingdom ...

told on Skin-the-goat,

O'Donnell The O'Donnell dynasty ( ga, Ó Dónaill or ''Ó Domhnaill,'' ''Ó Doṁnaill'' ''or Ua Domaill;'' meaning "descendant of Dónal") were the dominant Irish clan of the kingdom of Tyrconnell, Ulster, in medieval Ireland. Naming conventions Or ...

caught him on the boat
He wished he'd never been afloat, the dirty skite.
It wasn't very sensible
To tell on the Invincibles
They stand up for their principles, day and night.
''And you'll find them all in Monto, Monto, Monto''
''Standing up in Monto, lan-ge-roo,
''To you! '' Now when the

Tsar of Russia This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia. It includes the princes of medieval Rus′ state (both centralised, known as Kievan Rus′ and feudal, when the political center moved northeast to Vladimir and finally to Mos ...

And the King of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

Landed in the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

in a big balloon,
They asked the police band
To play " The Wearin' of the Green"
But the buggers from the depot didn't know the tune.
''So they both went up to Monto, Monto, Monto ''
''Scarpered up to Monto, lan-ge-roo,''
''To you! '' The

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

she came to call on us,
She wanted to see all of us
I'm glad she didn't fall on us, she's eighteen

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

.
"Mister Me Lord Mayor," says she,
"Is this all you've got to show me?"
"Why, no ma'am there's some more to see, ''Póg mo thóin!'' " ('Kiss my arse!')
''And he took her up Monto, Monto, Monto ''
''He set her up in Monto, lan-ge-roo, ''
''For you!''

References

External links

Information on ''mudcat.org''
retrieved July 27. 2016 *YouTube video

Lyrics and chords of Monto with background information on the song
{{Authority control Songs about Ireland Songs about prostitutes Songs about queens Songs about emperors Songs about kings Irish folk songs Drinking songs The Dubliners songs