Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Ballads, Scots -- Scotland -- Texts
We threw away our swords and carbines, 65
Pistols and cloaks lay strow'd on the lands;
Cutting off boots for running, uds-doyns,
One pair of heels was worth two pair of hands.
Then we called on sweet St. Coleman,[L69]
Hoping he might our victory crown; 70
But Dutchmen pursuing poor Teagues to our ruin,
By Chreest and St. Patrick, we're all run down.
Never was Teagues in so much distress,
As the whole world may well understand;
When we came here, we thought to possess 75
Worthy estates of houses and land:
But we find 'tis all a story,
Fortune is pleased on us to frown:
Instead of our riches, we stink in our breeches,
By Chreest and St. Patrick, we're all run down. 80
They call a thing a three-legged mare,
Where they will fit each neck with a nooze,
Then with our beads to say our last prayer,
After all this to die in our shoes.
Thence we pack to purgatory; 85
For us let all the Jesuits pray;
Farewell, Father Peters, here's some of your creatures
Would have you to follow the self-same way.
69, Edward Coleman, hanged at Tyburn in 1678, for his participation in
the Popish Plot.--CROKER.
UNDAUNTED LONDONDERRY.
The story of the siege of Londonderry, "the most memorable in the
annals of the British isles," is eloquently told in the twelfth
chapter of Macaulay's _History of England_. It lasted one hundred and
five days, from the middle of April to the first of August (1689).
During that time the garrison had been reduced from about seven
thousand men to about three thousand. Famine and pestilence slew more
than the fire of the enemy. In the last month of the siege, there was
scarcely any thing left to eat in the city but salted hides and
tallow. The price of a dog's paw was five shillings and sixpence, and
rats that had fed on the bodies of the dead were eagerly hunted and
slain. The courage and self-devotion of the defenders, animated by a
lofty public spirit and sustained by religious zeal, were at last
rewarded by a glorious triumph, and will never cease to be celebrated
with pride and enthusiasm by the Protestants of Ireland.
The ballad is here given as printed in Croker's _Historical Songs of
Ireland_, p. 46, from a black letter copy in the British Museum. The
whole title runs thus: _Undaunted Londonderry; or, the Victorious
Protestants' constant success against the proud French and Irish
Forces_. _To the Tune of Lilli Borlero._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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