Best O The Barley

D G D My uncle Jim he served his time A on the shore o' the Forth as a joiner Hm A D G D A and three pounds ten a week was all he earned D G D but the wages were better working Michigan pine A so he sailed on an ocean liner Hm D A D to build a better life with the trade he'd learned. G D G D And the shore he reached in twenty-three G D G D the home of the brave, the land o' the free Hm A D G D A was dry as the devil's tongue on Judgement Day G D G D but to find a dram in a foreign land G D G D it's the natural gift of a Falkirk man Hm A D G D A and Lady Liberty looked the other way Hm D A D or so I've always heard my uncle say: D A D A D For he's the best o' the barley cream o' the crop. G D A Easy on the water and I'll tell you when to stop. D So would you please charge your glasses F#m G with the real pure drop, A Hm and drink to the best o' the barley. A D G D My Uncle Jim was a child of his time A and the tricks of the time they were dirty, Hm D G D A and the dirtiest of all was the one they played D G D on a workingman's dollar and a poor man's dime A between twenty-nine and thirty, Hm D A D for they killed all the steady jobs in the building trade. G D G D And the only way that Jim could see G D G D was to play the game with Lady Liberty Hm A D G D A though no one ever told him all the rules, G D G D and when fainter hearts were homeward bound G D G D Jim sold Michigan ice by the pound Hm A D G D A with a leather sling and an iron hook for tools Hm D A D just to show the Yankees how to keep their cool. D A D A D For he's the best o' the barley cream o' the crop. G D A Easy on the water and I'll tell you when to stop. D So would you please charge your glasses F#m G with the real pure drop, A Hm and drink to the best o' the barley. A D G D My Uncle Jim, he could keep good time A when the band played an eightsome reel, Hm D G D A and loved to waltz away the summer nights, D G D and the spring in his step kept him in his prime, A through the turns of fortune's wheel Hm D A D as it spun him through the darkness and the light. G D G D And to dance a jig called history, G D G D Jim took the hand of the century, Hm A D G D A and he never let her steal a backward glance. G D G D From the D-Day beaches to the cold lake shore, G D G D he whirled her round and round the floor Hm A D G D A to show her how a Scotsman takes his chance, Hm D A D and he never missed a measure o' the dance. D A D A D For he's the best o' the barley cream o' the crop. G D A Easy on the water and I'll tell you when to stop. D So would you please charge your glasses F#m G with the real pure drop, A Hm and drink to the best o' the barley. G A Hm Here's a health to the best o' the barley G A D To Scotland and the best o' the barley.