A Curious Ballad
There are men dying in Ireland,
English men and Scots men.
There are men dying in Ireland.
Who sent them there ? said I.
"It was Lloyd George who sent them there,
When of liberty he began to despair;
He sent them to death like sheep at a fair."
The oracle said in reply.
Oh, those men have mothers dear,
English women and Scots women,
Oh, those men have mothers dear.
--What do they say ? said I.
"They say there is blood on Lloyd George's hands,
He used brave soldiers as murder bands,
He turned their poor boys into "Black-and-Tans"
The oracle said in reply.
Oh, those men have children small,
English children. and Scots children,
Oh, those men have children small,
"What will they say? said I.
"To the end of their lives they will curse the name
Of the turncoat leader they'll know was to blame
For their fathers' deaths and their country's shame,"
The oracle said in reply.
Oh, those men have a country, too,
England and Scotland.
Those" men have a country, too.
Has it nothlng to say? said I.
"Oh, England and Scotland one day will arise,
Black-and-Tan and Sinn Felners will then fraternise,
And they'll drive out the men who shed blood and tell lies."
The oracle said in reply.
By "The Infant" in London "Herald."
Notes
From the Brisbane Newspaper The Daily Standard 4 Jun 1921 p. 10.
In 1920 Lloyd George unleashed The Black and Tans together with the Auxiliaries in attempts to break both the IRA and the newly elected Dail in Dublin. These British forces became notorious for the barbarity of their actions in Ireland. It is intersting that this song was published in the Labour Party newspaper The Daily Herald and republished in Australia.
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