Mulligan's Mare Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IJKK LLMM NNOO PPFF QQRR SSFF TTUU VVF WWXX YYFF ZZA2A2 B2B2JJ IIC2C2 GGFF| Oh Mulligan's bar was the deuce of a place | A |
| To drink and to fight and to gamble and race | A |
| The height of choice spirits from near and from far | B |
| Were all concentrated on Mulligan's bar | B |
| - | |
| There was Jerry the Swell and the jockey boy Ned | C |
| Dog bite me so called from the shape of his head | C |
| And a man whom the boys in their musical slang | D |
| Designated the Gaffer of Mulligan's Gang | D |
| - | |
| Now Mulligan's Gang had a racer to show | E |
| A bad un to look at a good un to go | E |
| Whenever they backed her you safely might swear | F |
| She'd walk in a winner would Mulligan's mare | F |
| - | |
| But Mulligan having some radical views | G |
| Neglected his business and got on the booze | G |
| He took up with runners a treacherous troop | H |
| Who gave him away and he fell in the soup | H |
| - | |
| And so it turned out on a fine summer day | I |
| A bailiff turned up with a writ of fi fa | J |
| He walked to the bar with a manner serene | K |
| I levy said he in the name of the Queen | K |
| - | |
| Then Mulligan wanted in spite of the law | L |
| To pay out the bailiff with one on the jaw | L |
| He drew out to hit him but ere you could wink | M |
| He changed his intention and stood him a drink | M |
| - | |
| A great consultation there straightway befell | N |
| 'Twixt jockey boy Neddy and Jerry the Swell | N |
| And the man with the head who remarked Why you bet | O |
| Dog bite me said he but we'll diddle 'em yet | O |
| - | |
| We'll slip out the mare from her stall in a crack | P |
| And put in her place the old broken down hack | P |
| The hack is so like her I'm ready to swear | F |
| The bailiff will think he has Mulligan's mare | F |
| - | |
| So out with the racer and in with the screw | Q |
| We'll show him what Mulligan's talent can do | Q |
| And if he gets nasty and dares to say much | R |
| I'll knock him as stiff as my grandfather's crutch | R |
| - | |
| Then off to the town went the mare and the lad | S |
| The bailiff came out never dreamt he was had | S |
| But marched to the stall with a confident air | F |
| I levy said he upon Mulligan's mare | F |
| - | |
| He watched her by day and he watched her by night | T |
| She was never an instant let out of his sight | T |
| For races were coming away in the West | U |
| And Mulligan's mare had a chance with the best | U |
| - | |
| Here's a slant thought the bailiff to serve my own ends | V |
| I'll send off a wire to my bookmaking friends | V |
| 'Get all you can borrow beg snavel or snare | F |
| And lay the whole lot against Mulligan's mare ' | - |
| - | |
| The races came round and the crowd on the course | W |
| Were laying the mare till they made themselves hoarse | W |
| And Mulligan's party with ardour intense | X |
| They backed her for pounds and for shillings and pence | X |
| - | |
| But think of the grief of the bookmaking host | Y |
| At the sound of the summons to go to the post | Y |
| For down to the start with her thoroughbred air | F |
| As fit as a fiddle pranced Mulligan's mare | F |
| - | |
| They started and off went the boy to the front | Z |
| He cleared out at once and he made it a hunt | Z |
| He steadied as rounding the corner they wheeled | A2 |
| Then gave her her head and she smothered the field | A2 |
| - | |
| The race put her owner right clear of his debts | B2 |
| He landed a fortune in stakes and in bets | B2 |
| He paid the old bailiff the whole of his pelf | J |
| And gave him a hiding to keep for himself | J |
| - | |
| So all you bold sportsmen take warning I pray | I |
| Keep clear of the running you'll find it don't pay | I |
| For the very best rule that you'll hear in a week | C2 |
| Is never to bet on a thing that can speak | C2 |
| - | |
| And whether you're lucky or whether you lose | G |
| Keep clear of the cards and keep clear of the booze | G |
| And fortune in season will answer your prayer | F |
| And send you a flyer like Mulligan's mare | F |
Banjo Paterson
(1)
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