From Paddy Tunney's 'Where Songs do Thunder' Belfast 1991.


THE BUACHAILL ROE

1. Come all you loyal heroes and listen unto me,
And I'll sing you a verse or two of my love's destiny;
For the lad I loved so dearly from my arms is forced to go;
Still I own I loved him dearly. He's my charming Buachaill Roe.

CHORUS: Oh, the gentle thrush forsakes the bush and the blackbird hovers low
With a cry of desolation that bewails my Buachaill Roe.
Oh, the gentle thrush forsakes the bush and the blackbird hovers low;
Still I own I loved him dearly. He's my charming Buachaill Roe.

2. He was a youth undaunted. His age was twenty-three;
And for to search this nation round, his equal ne'er you'd see.
With two black eyes and rosy cheeks, his skin as white as snow,
But I own I loved him dearly. He's my charming Buachaill Roe.

3. He was a youth undaunted, of courage and noble blood,
And for the cause of Ireland on the battlefield he stood.
He never once retreated, though his wounds were deep and sore;
Still I own I loved him dearly. He's my charming Buachaill Roe.

4. The Erne is now closed by a heavy mist of rain,
And so is Enniskillen, where my true love does remain.
I'll build my true love's castle on the banks of Lough Erne shore,
And I'll plant the woods with laurel for my charming Buachaill Roe.