# Dare I? dare I? Yes I dare.



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Post the lyrics of your favourite rebel songs here:

Irish, Jacobite, Confederate, Spanish, Cuban, French, Polish whatever, as long as it's a rebel/freedom fighter/resistance song!

I'll start of course, with the first one I learned from my dad, when I was younger than 10 years old. In Irish folk & rebel songs there are always variations in lyrics, but these are the lyrics as I learned them in the late 60s/early 70s:

*The Merry Ploughboy *
I am a merry ploughboy and I plough the fields all day
Until the thought came to my mind that I should run away
For I'm sick and tired of slavery since the day that I was born
So I'm off to join the I.R.A. and I'm off tomorrow morn.

And we're all 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'll leave aside my pick and spade, I'll leave aside my plough,
Oh I'll leave aside my horse and yoke, For I'll no more need them now.
And I'll leave behind my Mary, She's the girl I do adore,
And I wonder if she'll think of me when she hears the cannons roar.

And we're all 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.

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
Well some men fight for silver and some men fight for gold
But the I.R.A. are fighting for the land that the Saxons stole.

And we're all 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.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

This next one I learned in 73 from a Belfast boy in my class, whose family had been burned out a couple of years earlier and so they moved to London. While the Merry Ploughboy stems from the War of independence 1919-1921. This song stems from the Troubles of 1969 onwards, and is believed to have been written in 1971, following introduction of the terrible Special Powers Act:

*Men Behind the Wire*
Armoured cars and tanks and guns
Came to take away our sons
But every man must stand behind
The men behind the wire.

Through the little streets of Belfast
In the dark of early morn
British soldiers came marauding
Wrecking little homes with scorn.

Heedless of the crying children
Cragging fathers from their beds
Beating sons while helpless mothers
Watched the blood poor from their heads.

Not for them a judge and jury
Nor indeed a trial at all
But being Irish means you´re guilty
So we´re guilty one and all.

Round the world the truth will echo
Cromwell´s men are here again
England´s name again is sullied
In the eyes of honest men.

Proud we march behind our banner
Firm we´ll stand behind our men
We will have them free to help us
Build a nation once again.

On the people step together
Proudly firmly on their way
Never fear never falter
Till the boys are home to stay.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Forgive and forget, I always say...

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Virgil Caine is my name and I served on the Danville train,
Till so much cavalry came and they tore up the tracks again
In the winter of sixty-five, we were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell - it's a time I remember oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singing 
They went "Na Na Na Na na..."

Back with my wife in Tennesee, when one day she called to me
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee."
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good.
Take what you need and leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best."

(Chorus)

Like my father before me, I'm a working man
Like my brother before me, I took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the blood below my feet
You can't raise the caine back up when it's in defeat.

(Chorus)

This may have been the last Civil War reference in popular (top 40) American music.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Love the Joan Baez version, out of all the versions hers is my favourite.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

WouldaShoulda said:


> This may have been the last Civil War reference in popular (top 40) American music.


You're forgetting Guns N' Roses great song Civil War from 1991 from the brilliant "Use Your Illusion II" album 



Maybe you haven't heard this before? Listen to the wailing chorus! "I don't need a civl war!"

"Use Your Illusion II" reached No.1 on the Billboard chart. And "Civil War" the main single from it reached No. 11 in the UK charts. Maybe it didn't chart at all in the US, I don't know.


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## Douglas Brisbane Gray (Jun 7, 2010)

*Ye Jacobites by name*

Ye Jacobites by name lend an ear, lend an ear
Ye Jacobites by name lend an ear
Ye Jacobites by name your faults I will proclaim
Your doctrines I must blame, you shall hear.​What is right and what is wrong by the law, by the law
What is right and what is wrong by the law
What is right and what is wrong, a short sword and a long
A weak arm and a strong for to draw.
What makes heroic strife famed afar, famed afar?
What makes heroic strife famed afar?
What makes heroic strife, to whet the assassin's knife
Or hunt a parent's life with bloody war.
Then leave your schemes alone in the state, in the state
Then leave your schemes alone in the state
Then leave your schemes alone, adore the rising sun
And leave a man alone to his fate.
Then leave your schemes alone, adore the rising sun
And leave a man alone to his fate...
And leave a man alone to his fate.


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## Douglas Brisbane Gray (Jun 7, 2010)

*The Diggers Song*

You noble diggers all stand up now, stand up now
You noble diggers all stand up now​​
The wasteland to maintain sin cavaliers by name
Your digging does maintain and persons all defame
Stand up now, stand up now​​
Your houses they pull down stand up now, stand up now
Your houses they pull down, stand up now
Your houses they pull down to fright your men in town
But the gentry must come down and the poor shall wear the crown
Stand up now diggers all​​
With spades and hoes and plows stand up now, stand up now
With spades and hoes and plows, stand up now
Your freedom to uphold sin cavaliers are bold
To kill you if they could and rights from you to hold
Stand up now diggers all​​
The gentry are all round stand up now, stand up now
The gentry are all round stand up now
The gentry are all round on each side the are found
Their wisdom so profound to cheat us of our ground
Stand up now stand up now
The lawyers they conjoin stand up now stand up now
The lawyers they conjoin stand up now
To rescue they advise, such fury they devise, the devil in them lies
And hath blinded both their eyes
Stand up now, stand up now​​
The clergy they come in stand up now, stand up now
The clergy they come in stand up now
The clergy they come in and say it is a sin 
That we should now begin our freedom for to win
Stand up now diggers all​​
'Gainst lawyers and 'gainst priests stand up now stand up now
'Gainst lawyers and 'gainst priests stand up now
For tyrants they are both, even flat against their oath
To grant us they are loathe free meat and drink and cloth
Stand up now diggers all​​
The club is all their law, stand up now stand up now
The club is all their law, stand up now
The club is all their law, to keep all men in awe
That they no vision saw to maintain such a law
Stand up now diggers all​​


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Douglas Brisbane Gray said:


> *Ye Jacobites by name*
> ​




An absolute classic!

And this next one we used to sing in the pub in Sweden a few years ago on the monthly ex-pats payday piss-up and still do when watching rugby in the pub. Even the English lads happily sang along, but I grant the Scots and Irish had most fun with it! Especially with the extras that as youk now get added on by rugby fans, which I've included in brackets for the benefit of others less au fait with it 

O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him, ('gainst who?)
Proud Edward's Army, (bastard)
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

The Hills are bare now,
And Autumn leaves 
lie thick and still,
O'er land that is lost now,
Which those so dearly held,
That stood against him, ('gainst who?)
Proud Edward's Army, (bastard)
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again. 
Those days are past now,
And in the past 
they must remain,
But we can still rise now,
And be the nation again, 
That stood against him, ('gainst who?)
Proud Edward's Army, (bastard)
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

0 Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him, ('gainst who?)
Proud Edward's Army, (bastard)
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.​


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## Douglas Brisbane Gray (Jun 7, 2010)

*The Piper o' Dundee*

The piper came to our town, 
To our town, to our town 
The piper came to our town 
And he played so bonnielie 
He play'd a spring the laird to please 
A spring brent new from 'yont the seas 
And then he gae his bags a squeeze 
And played anither key 
_Chorus:_ 
And wasna he a rougey, a rougey, a rougey, 
And wasna he a rougey, the piper o' Dundee 
He play'd "The Welcome Ower the Main" 
And "Ye's Be Fou and I'se be Fain" 
And "Auld Stuart's Back Again" 
Wi' muckle mirth and glee. 
He play'd "The Kirk", he play'd "The Queen" 
"The Mullin Dhu" and "Chevalier" 
And "Lang Awa' But Welcome Here" 
Sae sweet, sae bonnielie 
_Chorus_ It's some gat swords and some gat nane 
And some were dancing mad their lane 
And mony a vow o' weir was ta'en 
That night at Amulrie. 
There was Tillibardine, and Burleigh 
And Struan, Keith, and Olgivie, 
And brave Carnegie, wha' but he, 
The piper o' Dundee.

Many people know htis but never realise it's a Jacobite song, the clan leaders mentioned, auld Stewart and the Mulein Dhu are all associted with Jacobism and the 45.


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## Douglas Brisbane Gray (Jun 7, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Post the lyrics of your favourite rebel songs here:
> 
> Irish, Jacobite, Confederate, Spanish, Cuban, French, Polish whatever, as long as it's a rebel/freedom fighter/resistance song!
> 
> ...


Or the alternate last chorus of
"We'll hang John Knox from the old rugged Cross
With the Sash his father wore".


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

Wonderful Diggers Song, thanks, DBG. I'm extremely fond of a version recorded by Dick Gaughin, with somewhat different lyrics, called "The world turned upside down" that I will try to look up and transcribe. Also "The Green Fields of France"


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## Douglas Brisbane Gray (Jun 7, 2010)

*The Colours*
I am a member of the council of the naval mutiny
And no traitor to my conscience having done my sworn duty
These are my last words before the scaffold
and I charge you all to hear
How a wretched British sailor became a citizen mutineer
Pressed into service to carry powder I was
loyal to the crack of the whip
If I starved on the streets of Bristol, I
starved worse on a British ship
Red is the colour of the new republic
Blue is the colour of the sea
White is the colour of my innocence
Not surrender to your mercy
I was woken from my misery by the words of Thomas Paine
On my barren soil they fell like the sweetest drops of rain
Red is the colour of the new republic
Blue is the colour of the sea
White is the colour of my innocence
Not surrender to your mercy
So in the spring of the year we took the fleet
Every cask and cannon and compass sheet
And we flew a Jacobin flag to give us heart
While Pitt stood helpless we were waiting for Bonaparte
Red is the colour of the new republic
Blue is the colour of the sea
White is the colour of my innocence
Not surrender to your mercy
All you soldiers, all you sailors, all you labourers of the land
All you beggars, all you builders, all
you come here to watch me hang
To the masters we are the rabble, we are the 'swinish multitude'
But we can re-arrange the colours of the
red and the white and the blue
Red is the colour of the new republic
Blue is the colour of the sea
White is the colour of my innocence
Not surrender to your mercy
Red is the colour of the new republic
Blue is the colour of the sea
White is the colour of my innocence
Not surrender to your mercy


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Douglas Brisbane Gray said:


> Or the alternate last chorus of
> "We'll hang John Knox from the old rugged Cross
> With the Sash his father wore".


I'm sure that used to be very popular at Old Firm matches before both clubs banned all sectarian songs a few years ago!


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

A bit of history on _The Colo__urs _please Douglas, I don't recognise that one at all.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

From the Spanish Civil War, Christy Moore with his wonderful rendition of Viva La Quinte Brigada.

The O'Duffy of the lyrics was the leader of the Fascist National Guard in Ireland, more commonly known as the Blueshirts. One of my aunt's was a Blueshirt in the mid '30s before she left the Republic for Belfast in 1939 to do her bit in the British Army, she then married a presbyterian. 
Her father, my paternal grandfather, was shall we say not a fan of her life choices! 






*Viva La Quinte Brigada*
Ten years before I saw the light of morning
A comradeship of heroes was laid
From every corner of the world came sailing
The Fifteenth International Brigade

They came to stand beside the Spanish people
To try and stem the rising fascist tide
Franco's allies were the powerful and wealthy
Frank Ryan's men came from the other side

Even the olives were bleeding
As the battle for Madrid it thundered on
Truth and love against the force of evil
Brotherhood against the fascist clan

Chorus:
Viva la Quinte Brigada
'No Pasaran', the pledge that made them fight 
'Adelante' is the cry around the hillside
Let us all remember them tonight

Bob Hilliard was a Church of Ireland pastor
Form Killarney across the Pyrenees he came
From Derry came a brave young Christian Brother
Side by side they fought and died in Spain

Tommy Woods age seventeen died in Cordoba
With Na Fianna he learned to hold his gun
From Dublin to the Villa del Rio
Where he fought and died beneath the blazing sun

Viva la Quinte Brigada
'No Pasaran', the pledge that made them fight
'Adelante' is the cry around the hillside
Let us all remember them tonight

Many Irishmen heard the call of Franco
Joined Hitler and Mussolini too
Propaganda from the pulpit and newspapers
Helped O'Duffy to enlist his crew

The word came from Maynooth, 'support the Nazis'
The men of cloth failed again
When the Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire
As they sailed beneath the swastika to Spain

Viva la Quinte Brigada
'No Pasaran', the pledge that made them fight
'Adelante' is the cry around the hillside
Let us all remember them tonight

This song is a tribute to Frank Ryan
Kit Conway and Dinny Coady too
Peter Daly, Charlie Regan and Hugh Bonar
Though many died I can but name a few

Danny Boyle, Blaser-Brown and Charlie Donnelly
Liam Tumilson and Jim Straney from the Falls
Jack Nalty, Tommy Patton and Frank Conroy
Jim Foley, Tony Fox and Dick O'Neill


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

And who can resist Abba's Fernando. I remember when it was in the charts in the 70s. I still know it off by heart. I loved it then & I still love it now. Lyrics are in the video, so you can read and listen


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## Douglas Brisbane Gray (Jun 7, 2010)

The Colours is about the of 1897 and is only from 1988 by English Folkie punky Crossovers "The Men they Could not Hang", but much beloved at the Celtic end. (Because how many rebl songs hijack the red white and blue from the others).


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Douglas Brisbane Gray said:


> "The Men they Could not Hang"


Oh yes, I like them. I've never seen them live though but I have some of their music. A true crusty-festy band as we called that type of band in London.


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