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
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open X: Don't play string B: Bass Note






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)
|♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪|