Roddy McCorley --- Ethna Carberry/trad.
Oh [G]see
the fleet-foot host of men, who [C]come
with faces [G]wan,
From farmstead and from [C]fisher’s
[G]cot, along the [C]banks
of [D]Ban;
They [G]come
with vengeance [C]in their [G]eyes.
Too late, too [C]late are [D]they,
For young [G]Roddy
McCorley goes to die on the [C]Bridge of
Toome to-[G]day.
Oh [G]Ireland,
Mother Ireland, you [C]love them still
the [G]best,
The fearless brave who [C]fighting
fall up-[G]on your [C]hapless
[D]breast.
But [G]never
a one of [C]all your dead more [G]bravely
[C]fell in [D]fray
Than [G]he
who marches to his fate on the [C]Bridge
of Toome to-[G]day.
When [G]last
this narrow street he trod, his [C]shining
pike in [G]hand,
Behind him marched in [C]grim
ar-[G]ray, a stalwart, [C]earnest
[D]band.
“To [G]Antrim
town! To [C]Antrim [G]town!”
He led them [C]to the [D]fray,
But young [G]Roddy
McCorley goes to die on the [C]Bridge of
Toome to-[G]day.
The [G]gray
coat and it’s sash of green were [C]brave
and stainless [G]then,
Their banner flashed be-[C]neath
the [G]sun, above the [C]marching
[D]men.
The [G]coat
hath many a [C]rent this [G]noon,
the sash is [C]torn a-[D]way,
And young [G]Roddy
McCorley goes to die on the [C]Bridge of
Toome to-[G]day.
Oh [G]how
his pike flashed in the sun, then [C]found
a foeman’s [G]heart,
Through furious fight and [C]heavy
[G]odds he bore a [C]true
man’s [D]part,
And [G]many
a redcoat [C]bit the [G]dust
before his [C]keen pike-[D]play.
But young [G]Roddy
McCorley goes to die on the [C]Bridge of
Toome to-[G]day.
There’s [G]never
a one of all your dead more [C]bravely
fell in [G]fray
Than he who marches [C]to
his [G]fate in Toomebridge [C]town
to-[D]day.
True [G]to
the last! True [C]to the [G]last!
He treads the [C]upward [D]way,
And young [G]Roddy
McCorley goes to die on the [C]Bridge of
Toome to-[G]day.