The Isla Waters [English translation]

I have the funds to buy myself whiskey

Many funds to call my own

But if I should get too full of water

Who's the man that would carry me home?

And if I were drowned in the waters of the River Isla

How the deuce1 would I win home?2

If I were drunk in the waters of the River Isla

My little dog would find me in the Isla Stream.

Every day I cross that water

True, she's3 not connected4 with the sea

But if there's laughter at the ale-house

Dark and still she waits for me.

As the fisher's line that's broken

Leaves the salmon to the ocean swell

Many's the night you'll find me soaking

But you broke the line yourself.

All my days I've lived in this quarter5

Bold and lovely fine stuff I've seen

But if I should drown in your water

My little dog would find me in the Isla Stream

1. Euphemism for "how the devil" or "how in the devil's name"2. Find my way back home under difficult circumstances3. The river4. Sorry, just guessing here. In fact both Rivers Isla are tributaries of other rivers.5. Neighborhood