In the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety eight
A sorrowful tale the truth unto you I'll relate
Of thirty-six heroes to the world were left to be seen
By a false information were shot on Dunlavin Green
Bad luck to you Saunders, for you did their lives betray
You said a parade would be held on that very day
Our drums they did rattle - our fifes they did sweetly play
Surrounded we were and privately marched away
Quite easy they led us as prisoners through the town
To be slaughtered on the plain, we were then forced to kneel down
Such grief and such sorrow were never before there seen
When the blood ran in streams down the dykes of Dunlavin Green
There is young Matty Farrell has plenty of cause to complain
Also the two Duffys who were also shot down on the plain
And young Andy Ryan, his mother distracted will run
For her own brave boy, her beloved eldest son
Bad luck to you, Saunders, may bad luck never you shun!
That the widow's curse may melt you like the snow in the sun
The cries of the orphans whose murmurs you cannot screen
For the murder of their dear fathers on Dunlavin Green
Some of our boys to the hills they are going away
Some of them are shot and some of them going to sea
Micky Dwyer in the mountains to Saunders he owes a spleen
For his loyal brothers who were shot on Dunlavin Green
In the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety eight
A sorrowful tale the truth unto you I'll relate
Of thirty-six heroes to the world were left to be seen
By a false information were shot on Dunlavin Green
A sorrowful tale the truth unto you I'll relate
Of thirty-six heroes to the world were left to be seen
By a false information were shot on Dunlavin Green
Bad luck to you Saunders, for you did their lives betray
You said a parade would be held on that very day
Our drums they did rattle - our fifes they did sweetly play
Surrounded we were and privately marched away
Quite easy they led us as prisoners through the town
To be slaughtered on the plain, we were then forced to kneel down
Such grief and such sorrow were never before there seen
When the blood ran in streams down the dykes of Dunlavin Green
There is young Matty Farrell has plenty of cause to complain
Also the two Duffys who were also shot down on the plain
And young Andy Ryan, his mother distracted will run
For her own brave boy, her beloved eldest son
Bad luck to you, Saunders, may bad luck never you shun!
That the widow's curse may melt you like the snow in the sun
The cries of the orphans whose murmurs you cannot screen
For the murder of their dear fathers on Dunlavin Green
Some of our boys to the hills they are going away
Some of them are shot and some of them going to sea
Micky Dwyer in the mountains to Saunders he owes a spleen
For his loyal brothers who were shot on Dunlavin Green
In the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety eight
A sorrowful tale the truth unto you I'll relate
Of thirty-six heroes to the world were left to be seen
By a false information were shot on Dunlavin Green
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/11/4 - 11:12
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Incisa da innumerevoli autori e in un numero notevole di dischi compilativi. Per citarne alcuni, in ordine cronologico: Patrick Galvin (1956), Wallace House (1959), Frank Harte (1973), Christy Moore (1978), Dolores Keane (1997), Karan Casey (2008).
Nella compilation “Canti della Resistenza irlandese”, versione italiana per la Albatros dell’“Irish Rebellion Album” pubblicato dalla Folkways Records nel 1975, la canzone è interpretata da Paddy Mahone.
La canzone racconta un episodio della feroce repressione dell’insurrezione irlandese del 1798.
Il 26 maggio di quell’anno fatidico, a Dún Luáin (Dunlavin), un paese nella contea di Wicklow, a pochi chilometri da Dublino, i soldati britannici furono protagonisti di una delle tante esecuzioni extragiudiziali di prigionieri irlandesi.
La rivolta era già praticamente domata e gli inglesi parevano voler mostrare clemenza nei confronti dei patrioti che avessero ammesso le loro responsabilità. La milizia di Dunlavin fu convocata e agli “yeomen” raccoltisi in parata sulla pubblica piazza fu chiesto se fra di loro vi fossero degli “united irishmen”. Qualcuno fece un passo avanti ma gli inglesi li arrestarono tutti quanti e, quando ebbero notizia di alcuni loro camerati uccisi negli ultimi scontri, decisero di fucilare per rappresaglia tutti e 36 i prigionieri, in piazza, il giorno del mercato, di fronte a tutti gli abitanti, parenti delle vittime compresi.
Responsabili del massacro furono i capitani britannici William Ryves e Moreley Saunders.