Showing Off Girl of three cows don’t crow! Not so much of your store! I tell you I used to know A girl who had several more. Wealth is a broken reed, If you must brag speak low, Death’s at your back, give heed! Girl of three cows don’t crow! MacCarthy had stock enough, Where did his own stock go? All its glory a puff. Girl of three cows don’t crow! Lord Clare’s heroic race Passed on a day of woe No more to be seen in its place— Girl of three cows don’t crow! Over the seas in Spain, Fighting a foreign foe, O’Sullivan Beare was slain— Girl of three cows don’t crow! The O’Carrolls too were strong And brought down every foe, But poor they have been for long— Girl of three cows don’t crow! Of course we know that it’s true, But you mustn’t make such a show Just for a cow or two— Girl of three cows don’t crow! Source: O'Connor, Frank (tr); Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology from the Irish; 1962; London; Macmillan & Co; p.75