It Takes the Irish to Beat the Dutch

It Takes the Irish to Beat the Dutch is a song written in 1903 by Edward Madden and Theodore Morse.

The song has several verses, each of them filled with stereotypical Irish bragging about their supposed superiority to Germans ("Dutch" in old-fashioned terminology). The chorus is in the form of a limerick. Sample lyric:

The Germans are a mighty race improving every year

They lead the world in science, sauerkraut, and lager beer

But there's a race surpassing them in this world and the next

And on the tomb of Germany someday you'll read this text

It takes the Irish to beat the Dutch

What the Irish can't accomplish it don't amount to much

With their scientific tricks

They could never fool the Micks

You can bet it takes the Irish to beat the Dutch