I was just printing off a set of words of "Johnny I hardly knew ye" for a friend, using the Digital Tradition. And it occurred to me that I always sing it as "the army nearly slew ye", and the DT has it "the enemy". So I checked on what a couple of books have it, and they were "enemy" too.

So where did I get "army"? I don't mean, "which is the authentic version?", because I don't believe in that stuff, when it comes down to it.

But where did I get it from? Did I maybe make the change myself? Or does anyone else sing it that way?

Either way, to my mind "army" fits better with the song, and ties in with the idea that the real enemy is the army itself, which tears young men away and destroys them. And the slight change it makes in the rhythm between "enemy" and "army" feels better to me into the bargain.