The Miltown Malbay Exile

By God's own grace in this (?) place I'm in your midst once more
How my soul did grieve when I had to leave your radiant rockbound shore
And for all those years midst joys and tears returning did repay
O what joys untold did I behold of you, Miltown Malbay

On my beaten track down to Knockbrack and to green Gl(?) still
Where friends and peers of boyhood years came to bid a fond farewell
And all that roll I still recall and the words they came to say
And with tearful eyes and heartfelt sighs I left Miltown Malbay

On foreign coast let Miltown boast of three blacksmiths bold and brave
Though all they prayed, they went to jail their neighbors' homes to save
Their graves God guard in bleak (?) is my earnest prayer today
Since I left my home in B(?) near dear Miltown Malbay

O often in my vision seems so far across the waves
That sacred soil in Erin's isle, my loving parents' grave
And when my soul shall reach God's goal how I will embrace the clay
O were I so blest that my bones would rest near you, Miltown Malbay

Molly Bawn

Come all you young fellows who follow the gun
Beware of going a-shooting by the late setting sun
It can happen to anyone, for it happened to me
To shoot your own true love in under a tree

She was going to her uncle's when the shower it came on
She went under a tree the rains for to shun
With her white apron round her I took her for a swan
Then I levelled my gun and I shot Molly Bawn

I ran to my father's in haste and great fear
Saying, Father, dearest father, I've shot Molly dear
With her white apron round her I took her for a swan
Ah but O and alas it was my Molly Bawn

Then my father said to me, My son, don't run away
Stay in your own country till the law has its say
Stay in your own country till your trial it comes on
And there's no law can hang you for shooting a swan

Ah my curse on you, Thady, that lent me your gun
To go out a-shooting by the late sinking sun
When I touched her fair temples I found she was dead
And a fountain of tears for my Molly I shed

All you maids of the village, no tears will you shed
When you'll hear the sad news that my Molly is dead
Put them all in their hundreds, set them all in one row
Molly Bawn shone above them like a mountain of snow

Rebel Song

Those Christmas times, m'avourneen, are not like the times of old
When the lights of love shone merrily and (?) felt no cold
They laughed (?), those two young hearts, around our firesides merrily
And the laughter of those young hearts are gone, a stÛr mo chroÌdhe

It was on a cold December's night those bloodhounds made their way
Into (?)'s house in Newtown not far from D(?) Bay
It was there young (?) and Shanahan in irons firm were bound
They were placed in a lorry by Black and Tans and brought to Kilrush town

Next day they were asked to give the names of those their comrades bold
They were offered their full liberty if their honor thus they sold
They refused quite definitely and said that they would rather gaze
On the cold dark gloom of a martyr's tomb or seek a martyr's grave

All night those boys prayed fervently to Almighty God on high
To enable them to die like Pearse, (?) and MacBride
When morning broke those boys awoke in their lonely prison cells
Sweet memories did recall to them of their sweet fair (?)

While (?) were thinking deeply of their young days at home
When the pistol of the foreman came on the prison door
He handcuffed, chained and marched them to a waitin bus outside
And shot them on the Ennis road their hatred laws reviled

It was then the news went like the wind that Michael Mac lay low
Likewise Willy Shanahan the pride of sweet D(?)
Their coffins draped in the Tricolors side by side were laid to rest
On that lonely churchyard of D(?) with the noblest and the blest

Sure I think I see poor Willy now with his blue eyes fixed on mine
Likewise dark-haired Michael MacNamara with his soft hands clasped on mine
Sweet were their looks, soft were their smiles and kind were they to all
It was sad to see those heroes got such a sad downfall

All we can do for their poor souls is to chant a silent prayer
For those two boys who gave their lives, the pride of sweet West Clare
May the heavens part and scorch the tongues by which their lives were sold
And my curse on those who spied on them for their ready sacks and gold

The Banks of the Lee

When true lovers meet down beneath the green bower
When true lovers meet down beneath the green trees
Sure it's Mary, lovely Mary, declaring to her lover
Saying, We're now forever parting from the banks of the Lee

Refrain:
For I loved her very dearly, most true and sincerely
Sure there is no other girl that I love more than she
Every bush and every bower, every sweet Irish flower
Reminds me of my Mary on the banks of the Lee

I will pluck for her some roses, some blooming Irish roses
I will pluck for her some roses, the finest ever grew
And I'll place them in the grave over my sweet Highland Mary
In that cold and silent graveyard where she sleeps beneath the dew

(Refrain)

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