Spancil Hill chords

by The Dubliners
  • Spancill Hill is a traditional Irish Folk song composed by Michael Considine which was originally written as a poem.
  • This version by The Dubliners is featured on the album - Fifteen Years On.
  • Music: Key of D Minor in 6/8 time at 160 bpm ()
  • Easy Chords: Dm, C, G
Chart Legend
Numbered Circles: Fingers used to play chords   O: Optional Note
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings   R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open   X: Don't play string    B: Bass Note
Dm C Major G Major
Dm C Major G Major

Spancil Hill

The Relative Major Key of Dm is highlighted (F) - Transpose to any other key.
               Dm        C                Dm
Intro: 6/8 ‖        |         |   𝄎   |       |   𝄎   ‖
            
        Dm             C                                Dm
1. Last night as I lay drea-ming of plea-sant days gone by
      Dm                              C              G
   My mind being bent on ramb-ling to Ire-land I did fly
     Dm                               C                  G 
   I stepped on board a vis-ion and I fol-lowed with the wind
        Dm             C                                Dm
   Till next I came to an-chor at the cross in Spa-ncil Hill

            Dm             C                                 Dm
2. It being on the twen-ty third of June the day be-fore the fair
        Dm                                 C                   G
   When lre-land's sons and daught-ers and friends as-sem-bled there
       Dm                                              C            G
   The young the old the brave and the bold came their du-ty to ful-fil
          Dm                C                             Dm
   At the par-ish church in Cloo-ney a mile from Span-cil Hill

     Dm             C                                  Dm
3. I went to see me neigh-bours to see what they might say
       Dm                                  C                    G
   The old ones were all dead and gone the young one's tur-ning grey
         Dm                               C             G
   But I met the tail-or Qui-gley he's as bold as ev-er still
          Dm              C                                  Dm 
   And he used to make me britch-es when I lived in Span-cil Hill

          Dm     C           Dm                 C     G
Instr: ‖      |     |  𝄎  |      |  𝄎  |  𝄎  |     |     ‖

          Dm            C      G     Dm     C           Dm
       ‖      |  𝄎  |      |      |      |     |  𝄎  |     |  𝄎  ‖

     Dm             C                            Dm 
4. I paid a fly-ing vis-it to my first and on-ly love
            Dm                   C            G 
   She's as white as an-y lil-ly gent-le as a dove
           Dm                                 C                  G
   And she threw her arms a-round me say-ing "John-ny I love you still”
            Dm               C                                   Dm
   Ah she's Nel the far-mers daugh-ter and the pride of Span-cil Hill

     Dm                C                            Dm
5. I dreamt I held and kissed her as in the days of yore
       Dm                              C                   G
   "Ah John-ny you're on-ly jok-in’ as ma-ny’s the time be-fore"
            Dm                              C                   G
   Then the cock he crew in the mor-ning he crew both loud and  shrill
       Dm            C                                 Dm      C           Dm
   I a-woke in Cal-i-for-nia ma-ny miles from Span-cil Hill |     |  𝄎  |      |

Notes:

  • Level Of Ease: Easy - It only uses 4 chords that are part of the beginners chord collection.
  • Song Key: This version of the song is in the key of Dm which is the relative minor of F major - 1 flat (B♭)
  • 6/8 time: This means 6 eighth-note beats per bar, therefore the count is:
    |1 2 3 4 5 6 | = |♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ | or |♩.   ♩. | = | 123 223| etc. etc.
  • Tempo: approx. 160 bpm. If you find this a little too fast on the metronome, you can set it at approx. 54 bpm where each click falls on every third beat (red notes)
    | ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪|
Songs by The Dubliners on this site:
Back to Irish Folk Songs Back To Top
Contact Me

A seasoned performer joyfully playing the guitar