Lyr. Add: TRUE IRISH VALOR
Mrs. Mollie E. Moore, in
Allen's Lone Star Ballads 1874

Dick Dowling and the Davis Guards,
Sabine Pass, Texas, Sept. 8, 1863.

Thank God! there's one chord in all men's hearts
That is tuned alike: the one
That thrills into music, and stirs the blood,
When a gallant deed is done!

And friend or foe, it is all the same,
So the hand be firm and the heart be true,
For the soul at a hero's touch will flame,
Whether his coat be grey or blue.

There were camp-fires red on a hundred fields,
There was marching, and fighting, and dying, alas!
There were armies to Eastward, and armies to Westward,
And a handful of men yonder guarding a pass!

Forty-two all told! but friends only think
What a sea of brave blood flows through forty-two hearts,
When not a drop of it runs foul! Fresh drawn
From Freedom's great heart of all hearts!

Ah! I swear, as the thought of their deed comes back,
That I see them stand as they stood that day,
Watching the foe come sailing up
In his grand ships over the Bay.

The twenty-three ships on the Bay, all bold,
Fifteen thousand men on their decks, all told.
The gunners are ready for work in the fort,
With their sleeves to their elbows roll'd.

There may have been in those throbbing hearts,
A thought of home, where the lov'd ones wait,
Of sister, sweetheart, or wife, perhaps,
But the main thought was, "Make the shots go straight!"

So the grandest deed of the time was wrought,
For the shot went straight, and the day was won!
Friends, the cause that we lov'd is lost, and the days
Of the rifle and sword are done.

The fires of a hundred fields were vain,
The marching, and fighting, and dying, alas!
And history has no place on her page
For a handful of Irishmen guarding a Pass!

But a dream of those men in a half-built fort,
With their arms laid bare for the fight that day,
The fifteen thousand men on the decks of the ships,
The twenty-three ships in the Bay.

That will keep its place in the heart, thank God!
While the hands are firm, and the hearts are true,
And will stir into music the hero's blood
Whether his coat be grey or blue.

One of several ballads written in the 1860s concerning the defense at Sabine Pass.
(Not the one required, but one written very shortly after the event.)

LYR. ADD: SABINE PASS
Mrs. M. J. Young
Dedicated to the Davis Guards-
(The Living and the Dead.)

Sabine Pass! in letters of gold,
Seem written upon the sky to-day-
Sabine Pass with rhythmic feet,
Comes passionately stepping down my lay.

Sabine Pass and the white sail ships,
With their cruel cannon's grinning teeth,
Tearing in shreads the sullen smoke,
That seem'd weaving for us a winding sheet.

Sabine Pass with its Irish hearts,
As true as the blessings the Shamrock brings-
Hearts as full of royal blood
As that which nerves the arms of kings.

Few, ah! few were the Davis band-
"We cannot conquer, but we can die!"
Said the dauntless DOWLING, as up he sprang,
And nail'd the starry cross on high.

Twenty-seven ships in pomp and pride,
Came sailing thro' the Pass that day-
Go ask of any Texas child,
How many ships survived the fray.

The God of battle, who loves the brave,
Who gave to Gideon of old the fight,
Sent victory down that "GUARD" to save,
And crown'd them with immortal light.

Dark storms have since o'erswept our land,
And tyrants do our souls harrass,
But glory shines on DOWLING's band-
The forty-two heroes of the Pass.

Come fill your glass with Texas wine-
Wine that is generous, red and free-
And drink with me to the knightliest man,
Who conquer'd the foe on land and sea.

But tears, rough, manly tears for the dead,
Light dews of night bedim the glass,
With throbbing hearts and lifted hands,
We name him- "DOWLING! OF THE PASS!"

Written in Houston, Texas, September 8, 1868.

Frances D. Allan, 1874, "Allan's Lone Star Ballads, A Collection of Southern Patriotic Songs Made During Confederate Times," pp. 109-110 and 112-113, Burt Franklin, New York. Reprinted 1970.

More to follow.