The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #11781   Message #143255
Posted By: Philippa
01-Dec-99 - 02:15 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Highland Paddy
Subject: Lyr Add: HIGHLAND PADDY
just slightly different in McCarthy's book:

HIGHLAND PADDY

One evening fair as the sun was shining
To Kilkenny I did ride
I did speak with Captain Brady
And the tall commander by his side

"I've come to fight for my land,
Drive the Saxon from our land
He looked at me his eyes were shining
And he took me by the hand

Chorus:
Ah! then you are welcome, Highland Paddy,
And by my side you'll surely stand,
Hear the people shout for Freedom
And we'll ride in the morning with the Fenian band,
We'll ride in the morning with the Fenian band

In the morning we rose early,
Just before the break of dawn,
Blackbirds singing in the heather,
Greetings to a smiling morn.

Gather round me men of Ireland,
Raise your voices towards the sky,
Let the green flag fly forever,
In the cause of freedom we will fight and die.

chorus:
We did meet the Saxon yeoman
A mile outside Kilkenny town
And to hand with sword and musket,
Men lay dead on the ground

I could hear the Captain calling
"Rally Fenians, rally round
Death to all the Saxon tyrants,
spill their blood upon this holy ground."

chorus:
In the glenside by a river
On a lovely summer's day
I saw the captain sorely bleeding,
I knelt beside him and I heard him say

Fare thee well my Highland Paddy
Drive them from our countryside
Freedom is a word to cherish
And the birds were silent when this Fenian died

All my life I will remember
I'll remember night and day
Once I rode into Kilkenny
And I heard this noble Fenian say:

Ah! then you are welcome, Highland Paddy,
And by my side you'll surely stand,
Hear the people shout for Freedom
And we'll ride in the morning with the Fenian band,
We'll ride in the morning with the Fenian band

by Sean McCarthy, as published in The Songs of Sean McCarthy (Listowel, Co Kerry, 1973)