Hi,

Here are the Lyrics (transcribed so a couple unclear):

Sorry for delay.

THE FERNS EXILE
(Mick Galvin – I think)

Bitter Autumn breezes blow, along the pier at Port-Saint-Louis,
The seagulls bob and weave above the swell,
In his muffler and great coat, buttoned high against the cold
The old man with soldiers bearing gazes out.

Now his thoughts are not ungant????, or on the new French Parliament,
Or the honours won on Elv????? and Waterloo,
But instead his blue eyes gaze back through the years now misted haze,
To boyhood days and bygones sad events.

CHORUS
Put your feeble hand in mine, let me take you back in time,
To the spring of '98 when freedom called,
When as a youth with fiery pride along with Kelly and McBride,
You marched to Tubberneering side by side

But your dreams were not to be, and like the Wild Geese had to flee,
To join Napoleon's army was your fate,
And when at night you shed those tears, and hope'd they'd wash away your fears,
And the memories of how things might have been.

CHORUS

Now the years have come and gone, and the fighting is all done,
'Twas in the French man's cause you had to toil,
While on a lonely Ferns Hill, a rusted plough is lying still,
No more in practised hands to part the soil

CHORUS

CHORUS (repeated with changed words)
Put your feeble hand in mine, let me take you back in time,
And on angels wings across the sea we'll fly,
Back to those days long, long ago, and with the friends we used to know,
We'll march once more down by sweet Slaney side.


Also, I know there will be a CD with a recording of this available on www.scalltamedia.com soon (over next month or so), from John Ennis - a Wexford traditional singer. It has just been released.

paul.