The Wild Rover
"The Wild Rover" is one of the best-known drinking songs in the world, and it is usually thought of as Irish. Its roots are older and more complicated: it seems to have started life as an English broadside and was once sung as a warning against drink.
- Roud number
- 1173
- Possible origin
- A 17th-century English broadside by Thomas Lanfiere
- Early printings
- London broadsides of 1813–1838; American songsters of 1845 and c.1850
- Famous versions
- The Dubliners (1964), the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem (1965), the Pogues (1984)
- Time
- 3/4
What the song is about
The singer has spent years as a "wild rover", wasting his money on drink. When he returns to an alehouse and is turned away by the landlady, he shows her his gold, she suddenly welcomes him, and he decides to go home, make peace with his parents and give up roving for good. The famous chorus, with its "no, nay, never", is the part everyone joins in.
History
Many places claim the song. Folk researcher Brian Peters traced it to a 17th-century English broadside by Thomas Lanfiere, which then developed into separate versions in England, Scotland, Ireland and North America, and later Australia. It was printed in London broadsides in the early 1800s and in American songsters in the 1840s.
Historian Tom Devine describes it as a temperance song, written to turn listeners away from drink, which is ironic given how it is sung today. Collectors found it in oral tradition right across the English-speaking world: the Roud index lists about 200 versions, including some 50 from traditional singers.
We describe this song rather than print its words: versions differ widely from singer to singer, and the best-known ones come from particular recordings.
Recordings and terraces
The Dubliners recorded it in 1964 and the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem in 1965, and from there it became a staple of Irish pubs everywhere. The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys and Lankum have all recorded their own versions. Football fans in Britain sing the chorus with words changed to suit their club, and Celtic supporters sing it at away matches.
Chords in G
Verse: | G | G | C | C | | G | G | D | D | | G | G | C | C | | G | D | G | G | Chorus: | D | D | G | G | | C | C | D | D | | G | G | C | C | | G | D | G | G |
Strum it in three and leave a gap for the claps in the chorus, the way it is sung in pubs.
More Irish songs: Whiskey in the Jar · Molly Malone · all folk songs