Georges Denis Zimermann

Songs of Irish Rebellion
Irish political street ballads and rebel songs
1780 – 1900

This book was first published in Switzerland in 1966. It has three parts. The first part tells the story of Irish rebellion with more than just one eye to the music accompanying the fights. It is a must read for anyone interested in this type of songs and how they are related to the politics in Ireland and Europe. This part quotes the songs in the other two parts but quotes many more songs than just these. Since these quotes are not indexed and mostly do not give the full lyrics I omit here these songs. The next two parts contain the songs, a large second part the rebel songs and the very small third part some Orange songs. Many of the songs have the tune printed as well and most of them have notes. All of them, however, are annotated in the first part of the book. The songs come in chronological order (of first publication). In all cases the source(s) for the lyrics printed (older books, broadsides) are given. You should expect in many cases not to find the lyrics now printed in songbooks but original or close to original lyrics. From that follows that the titles are in some cases not as expected by a reader though the verbosity of broadsides (A new song called…A song in praise of…) has mostly been omitted. In cases where the song titles might be misleading I quote the first line. I'll indicate if more than one variant of the song is printed.

The (royal) blackbird
The volunteers' march
Ireland's glory
Freedom triumphant
Plant, plant the tree
Blaris Moor (2 var.)
The Shan van Vocht (4 var.)
Edward ("When plaintive sounds strike…")
Dunlavin green (2 var.)
Come all you warriors
Some treat of David (2 var.)
Billy Byrne of Ballymanus (2 var.)
The song of Prosperous
Captain Doorley and the Boyne
Michael Boylan
General Munroe ("Come all you good people…") (2 var.)
Rody MacCorly ("You tender-hearted Christians…")
Rouse, Hibernians
The Croppy boy ("…early, early all in the spring…") (3 var.)
The rambler from Clare
Green on my cape – The wearing of the green ("I am a man that's going to travel…") (2 var., the other being the better known "I met with Napper Tandy...")
The suit of green
Bold McDermott
The banished defender
My Emmet's no more
The patriot queen
Erin's green shore
The young man's dream
The new Granuwale
The green linnet (Napoleon)
The royal eagle
The new bunch of Loughero – The bonny bunch of roses, o (2 var.)
The banishment of Patrick Brady
Owen Rooney's lamentation
The battle that was fought in the North
The lamentation of James O'Sullivan
A discussion between church and chapel
The sorrowful lamentation of Denis Mahony
The noble ribbon boys
The Castlepollard massacre
The Barrymore tithe victory
Slieve na Mon ("You banished sons of this injured nation…")
Fergus O'Connor and independence
The grey horse – The grey mare (2 var.) ("My horse is white although…" and "All you young men both great and small…)
The peeler and the goat
The ass's complaint – The ass and the Orangeman's daughter (2 var.) ("The seventeenth of March as I carelessly did stray…" and "In the County of Tipperary in a place called Longford Cross…")
Dicky in the Yeomen
Billy's downfall
The Saxon shilling
Glorious repeal meeting held at Tara hill
The memory of the dead
The Croppy boy ("Good men and true…")
The sorrowful lamentation of those poor convicts
Erin's King or Daniel is no more
The Kerry eagle
Erin's green linnet
The emigrant's farewell to Donegal
A new song on the rotten potatoes
Mitchel's address
Granua's lament for the loss of the blackbird Mitchel
The escape of Meagher
A lament written on the dreadful massacre of Sixmilebridge
Patrick Sheehan
The lamentation of the two Cormacks
McKenna's dream
The Irish harvest men's triumph
Ireland's liberty tree
The general fox chase
The rising of the moon
Rossa's farewell
Burke's dream
The smashing of the van (Manchester martyrs)
A lamentation on Allen, Larkin and O'Brien (the three Manchester martyrs)
God save Ireland
Rory of the hill
Bold Jack O'Donoghue (2 var.)
Poor old Granuaile
Harvey Duff
The Land League's advice
A new song on Michael Davitt ("Oh, Lords and the Commons…"
The blackbird of Avondale (The arrest of Parnell)
The shooting of Bailey
The green linnet (Davitt) ("One eve as I strolled…)
Lamentable lines on J. Brady and D. Curley
Skin-the-Goat's curse on Carey
Patrick O'Donnell
The Kerry eviction
Moonlight attack on Curtin's house
We won't hear our leader run down
Father Murphy of the County Wexford (Boulavogue)
Bold Robert Emmet
John McBride's brigade

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Lisnagade
Croppies lie down (2 var.)
The tree of liberty
Dolly's Brae (2 var.)
The grand mystic order
The Aughalee heroes
The murder of McBriars
A new loyal song against home rule