Rambling Dan Poem by Francis Duggan

The old tramp of my childhood years we called him Rambling Dan
He tramped around the Countryside he was a homeless man
I often think about him and where does his old bones lay
In an unmarked and neglected grave from here so far away.

As children we used to tease him as he slowly walked by
But wisely he ignored us he seemed so quiet and shy
At that time as bored school children teasing poor souls we did enjoy
But now for that I do feel sorry I was a naughty boy.

He slept in sheds and haybarns he had no fixed abode
As he travelled around the Countryside an old man of the road
'Twas said he had a mental illness by those who ought to know
The old tramp of my childhood years some five decades ago.

He must have been in his sixties he did seem old and gray
The old traveller of Duhallow I still recall today
I often think about him perhaps he was found dead
By some farmer in a haybarn or in a disused shed.

I often think about him he lived in poverty
But he did seem to have wisdom and he had humility
To our teasing he would not respond us he choose to ignore
As he walked towards Ballydaly on the roadway to Rathmore.