Three Coppers and a Lie | Fantasy Tavern Drinking Song by Silas Halfpenny

An original fantasy tavern drinking song: a cheerful liar, the same three coppers for every round, and a table that counts his tab out loud. Count it out! From the songbook of Silas Halfpenny, entry the second. He paid for six rounds with three coppers and never let go of any of them. That's not thieving, mind — that's craft. The trick is telling a story so tall the room would rather hear the end of it than see the bottom of his purse. The one true thing he said all night, nobody believed. I wrote it down anyway. Mind your tab, friends — the room is counting. — Silas Halfpenny ━━━━━━━━━━ LYRICS ━━━━━━━━━━ I've paid for every drink tonight... in coin I do not have I laid three coppers on the oak and slid them back for more I told them of the roan I broke on cliffs above the shore Old Marta marked it on the beam, the whole bench raised a hand — "That's one," they called, and counted loud, "a horse from fairy-land." It's three coppers and a lie, my friends, the only coin he's got — he'll drink the whole night on your tab and swear he paid the lot (Count it out! Count it loud!) Three coppers and a lie I laid three coppers on the wood and palmed them off the grain I told them how I held the wall at Greywater in the rain "That's two," the table hollered back and threw their fingers wide — "a war he never marched upon, and lived to say he died." It's three coppers and a lie, my friends, the only coin he's got — he'll drink the whole night on your tab and swear he paid the lot (Count it out! Count it loud!) Three coppers and a lie So here's the truest thing I'll say, and you'll believe it least: I've not a coin, I've not a wife, I've nothing but this feast — just you, this fire, this borrowed chair, this song I cannot buy... The whole room laughed and threw up three: "his finest one — that lie!" It's three coppers and a lie, my friends, the only coin he's got — he'll drink the whole night on your tab and swear he paid the lot (Count it out! Count it loud!) Three coppers and a lie so keep your fingers ready, friends... and count me when I'm gone... three coppers and a lie, I paid... (the tab still carries on)