Surely, friends, it seems to me, England's self ere now should know, These are things she'll never see, Let Ireland's star be high or low; That's the truth, whoe'er denies it, Scouts it, flouts it, or decries it, Aids to spread a vile invention, Drawn from--where I will not mention! Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha! From the place 'tis wrong to mention, Ha, ha, ha!
Another song, written to discourage recruiting for the English army in Ireland, goes thus:
Good old Britain, rule the waves And gobble up all the land, Bring out the blacks and Indian braves To jigger the German band; Call up Australia and Canada, too, To shatter the Kaiser's den, We'll stick to the looms while the howitzer booms, Eight millions of English men; Of mafficking, manly men; Of valiant, loyal men; We'll capture the trade from here to Belgrade, Eight millions of English men.
There are plenty of fools in Ireland still, Just promise them something soon, A Union Jack, or a Home Rule Bill, Or a slice of the next new moon; And they'll rush to the colors with wild hurroos, What price the War Lord then? They'll settle his hash, while we gobble his cash, Eight millions of English men; Of beef-eating, bull-dog men; Of undersized, able men; We're shy of the guns, but we'll beggar the Huns, Eight millions of English men.
This is a song that includes the Irish leaders in Parliament in its satire on Irish "loyalty" to England:
"Now," says Lady Aberdeen, "I've a message from the Queen To the loyal hearts in Ireland here at home; She wants you all to gather socks, Plain as I, or decked with clocks, Just to prove the Irish loyal to the throne."
To Hell with the King, and God save Ireland, Get a sack and start the work to-day, Gather all the socks you meet, for the English Tommies' feet, When they're running from the Germans far away!
"When you've gathered all the socks, Send them on to Dr. Cox, Or to Redmond, or to Dillon, or myself, For the party on the floor Have agreed to look them o'er While the Home Rule Bill is resting on the shelf."
(Same as first stanza. The first line is a parody on the loyalist toast: "Here's a health to the King, and God save Ireland!")
The Irish Citizen Army song was written by Jo Connolly, a young workingman, whose brother, Sean Connolly, was killed while leading the attack on Dublin Castle Easter Monday. Jo was the boy who cut loopholes in the roof of the College of Surgeons. He was deported to Wandsworth Prison, but after a few months was released. The song is sung to the tune which you know as "John Brown's Body":
