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The Patriot Game Dominic Behan
Come all ye young rebels, and list while I sing,
For the love of one's country is a terrible thing.
It banishes fear with the speed of a flame,
And it makes us all part of the patriot game.
My name is O'Hanlon, and I've just turned sixteen.
My home is in Monaghan, and where I was weaned
I learned all my life cruel England's to blame,
So now I am part of the patriot game.
This Ireland of ours has too long been half free.
Six counties lie under John Bull's tyranny.
But still De Valera is greatly to blame
For shirking his part in the Patriot game.
They told me how Connolly was shot in his chair,
His wounds from the fighting all bloody and bare.
His fine body twisted, all battered and lame
They soon made me part of the patriot game.
It's nearly two years since I wandered away
With the local battalion of the bold IRA,
For I read of our heroes, and wanted the same
To play out my part in the patriot game.
My life now is ending. This prison is cold
My dreams are of traitors who bargained and sold
And I wish that my rifle had given the same
To those bastards who sold out the patriot game.
trivia note: this song was the inspiration for Bob Dylan's With God On Our Side
posted by The Minstrel Boy at 8:46 PM
2 Comments:
I am a merry ploughboy boy, and I'm here to sing to you
And in case you didn't know it, I'm Irish thru and thru
No matter where I chance to roam, over land or sea or sky
Beneath the orange, white and green, for Ireland, boys, I'll die!
CHORUS:
We're off to Dublin in the green,
in the green
Where the helmets glisten in the sun
Where the bayonets flash and the rifles crash
To the echo of a Thompson gun
I am a merry ploughboy and I ploughed the fields all day
Till a sudden thought came to my head that I should roam away
For I'm tired of civilian life since the day that I was born
So I'm off to join the IRA and I'm off tomorrow morn
Alternate chorus:
And we're off to Dublin with the green on the green
And the bayonets glitterin' in the sun
And the Tans they fly like lightnin' from
The rattle of me Thompson gun!
I'll leave aside my pick and spade, I'll leave aside my plough
I'll leave aside my old grey mare, no more I'll need them now
And I'll leave aside my Mary, she's the one that I adore
I wonder if she'll think of me when she hears the rifles roar
I'll take my Sharps revolver and my bandolero so
And with my comrades by my side, we'll fight a foreign foe!
I had a girl I left behind, and her name was Mary, dear
And I hope that she proves true to me whenever I'm not near
And when the war is over and dear old Ireland's free
I'll take her to the church to wed and a rebel's wife she'll be.
And how interesting to discover that Dominic was brother to Brendan. My favorite of Brendan's:
I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer.)
i too have a great fondness for brendan. borstal boy has always been a favorite of mine. and i have been known to end more than one night's performance with the parting glass. flitting through the pictures this week i saw this and knew that there was no way on god's earth that i could pass up a picture from ireland of a golden harp. o'connell and the repeal movement were beautiful doomed heroes. they tried to organize non-violent resistance to british rule. they did not accurately envision the willingness of the english when it came to mowing down unarmed, non-violent protestors with machine guns.
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