From Songs from the Beautiful City: The Cork Urban Ballads by Jimmy Crowley (book). Mary Bowles the noble lass She played a hero's part When cruel tyrants tried to crush A generous Irish heart Never yet was known a lady Nor likewise ne'er a queen Who would match the deeds of Mary Bowles The pride of sweet Clogheen Chorus: And it's hands up, hands up, Mary Bowles! You'll hear the children sing All along the streets of Pokertown As she rides to sweet Clogheen With blackened stick she sketched and drew Upon a prison wall But true as steel to gallant friends She would not talk at all They took her to the Bridewell And then to Sunday's Well But freedom's song bloomed in her breast And never would she tell I pray to heaven that every maid Like Mary, would be true To comrades brave; to Ireland's cause To God and Róisín Dubh Then we would boast a patriot host From whence to pick a queen To match the deeds of Mary Bowles The pride of sweet Clogheen A heart that swelled with pride and joy And longed for Ireland's cause And with the volunteers she pledged To scuttle England's laws She tried to hide a Lewis gun And she scarcely seventeen While bullets flew around her path The pride of sweet Clogheen Mary Bowles, the noble lass She rode up Blarney Lane Astride her mare, no one would dare To show to her disdain Hands up, hands up, Mary Bowles You'd hear the children say She was a freedom fighter They heard their parents say
|