John O'Donoghue (c. early 1800s)

I stood one day on Gallows Hill,
It was a lovely scene.
The great big fields of turnip tops.
They looked so nice and green.

I went down to the Bang Up Cross,
The first crop for to view,
That plot belongs to me 'me Boys'.
Said John O'Donoghue.

Johnson Greene he wrote to me,
Saying, "Sir, I'd like to know
How you mix your bone manure.
For such fine crops to grow.

But I wrote back and said dear Sir,
No tips I'll give to you
Unless you call to my address
I'm John O'Donoghue.

Some say Johnson Greene has called.
But none know how he came.
Some say he came by motor car
And that he missed the train.

Some say he traveled by balloon
To hold the interview,
But none seem for to know the hide,
But John O'Donoghue.

My seed arrived at Ballon Cross,
I then began to sow
My turnips there you all can see.
My mangolds there below.

My Champions and my Up-to-Dates
Are the best that ever grew,
It's 40 barrels to the rood
Said John O'Donoghue.

I went up to the Coe Stone field,
There was an auction there,
They made no more of pounds and crown
Than some big millionaire.

The plot went up to three pound eight.
But in the nick of time,
John Hanlon he put on a bid
And made it three pound nine.

There was a roar from Askamore.
Which brought a loud 'huroo.
Another crown and knock it down,
Said John O'Donoghue.

The Auctioneer his hammer raised
And downed it with a blow,
Begas— the one Fitzsimons gave.
That laid Jim Corbett low.

---

Joe O'Donoghue, great, great grandson of John O'Donoghue, recently found the last few verses of this poem which is attributed to Mr. Gaynor of Whitemills, Kilbride.
So here it is for posterity on the village web site.

John O'Donoghue came from Askamore, Co. Wexford soon after the rebellion of 1798 and settled as a conacre farmer in Carrigslaney.

Conacre definition: A system of letting a portion of a farm for a single crop.

Bob Fitzsimons - a New Zealand heavyweight boxer who on March 17th 1897 laid low
his opponent, Gentleman Jim Corbett, from San Francisco.

Mangold n : beet with a large yellowish root; grown chiefly as cattle
feed [syn: mangel-wurzel, mangold-wurzel, Beta
vulgaris vulgaris]

Barrels n : the amount that many barrels might hold

Rood n :A measure of five and a half yards in length; a rod; a
perch; a pole. [Prov. Eng.]

also: The fourth part of an acre, or forty square rods.

Pound n : English currency worth about 1.40 Euro

Crown n : (out of date) 1/4 of a pound or 5 shillings