The other week somebody tried to convince me that the song was actually about a girl called Roisin (pronounced Rosheen) and the bow was 'beax' French for beautiful. But it would be 'belle' for a female. Roisin means Rose, apparently.

The word is said to have been used as a symbol for Ireland as a way of singing 'outlawed' patriotic songs. The rose symbolised Ireland.

But how much truth there is in all this I do not know.