"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
porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., ...
,
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