#1225 - Are You the O'Reilly? [Roller Organ Cobography]

#1225 - Are You the O'Reilly?

Composer:
- Pat Rooney, Sr. (1844-1892), 1882
- lyrics updated, 1915¹⁾
Also known as:
- Are You The O'Reilly? (Blime Me, O' Reilly, You Are Lookin' Well)
- Is that Mr. Reilly?
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Incipit: 5171321712156234271
Condensed Incipit: 5171321712156234271
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Lyrics:
I'm Terrence O'Reilly, I'm a man of renoun,
I'm a thoroughbred to the backbone,
I'm related to O'Connor, my mother was Queen Of China,
Ten miles from Athlone.
But if they'd let me be,
I'd have Ireland free,
On the railroads you would pay no fare,
I'd have the United States under my thumb,
And I'd sleep in the President's chair.

chorus:
Are you the O'Reilly that keeps the hotel?
Are you the O'Reilly, they speak of so well,
Are you the O'Reilly, they speak of so highly,
Gor blime me, O'Reilly, you are looking well.

There's Shamus O'Reilly who kept the hotel,
He's assigned to the Commissary;
Back home in Old Dublin he di very well,
But he's now working for the army.
He once served at the “Pub”, but he's now serving grub,
And it's flavored with powder and lead,
He took the King's shilling to go do his killing,
But he's cooking for soldiers instead.

Young Ludwig O'Reilly, that may be his name,
In the trench on the enemy's side;
I glimpsed his big helmet and potted the same,
And to “helmit” went Ludwig's right eye;
Then his brother named Fritz,
Nearly gave us all fits,
We were laughing at what he had done,
When up rose the blighter a bally good fighter,
And he started us all on the run.
- P. Emmett, 1915²⁾
Original lyrics:
I'm Terrence O'Reilly, I'm a man of renoun,
I'm a thoroughbred to the backbone,
I'm related to O'Connor, my mother was Queen Of China,
Ten miles from Athlone.
But if they'd let me be,
I'd have Ireland free,
On the railroads you would pay no fare,
I'd have the United States under my thumb,
And I'd sleep in the President's chair.

chorus:
Is that Mister Reilly, can any one tell?
Is that Mister Reilly that owns the hotel?
Well if that's Mister Reilly, they speak of so highly,
Well upon my soul Reilly, you're doing quite well.

I'd have nothing but Irishmen on the police,
Patrick's Day will be the Fourth of July,
I'd get me a thousand infernal machines
To teach the Chinese how to die;
I'll defend workingmen's cause,
Manufacture the laws,
New York would be swimming in wine,
A hundred a day, will be very small pay,
When the White House and Capitol are mine.
- Pat Rooney, Sr. (1844-1892), 1882

¹⁾

An American “war song” version was written by P. Emmett

²⁾

The lyrics were also adapted into a longer Brittish “war song” by Elwyn Yorke, which begins, “I'm Terrence O'Reilly—Australian by birth, And I'm glad to be wid yez to-day, …”