Music: Derek Warfield As down the glen one Easter morn To a city fair rode I There armoured lines of marching men In squadrons passed me by No pipe did hum, no battle drum Did sound its loud tattoo But the Angelus bell o'er the Liffy's swell Rang out in the foggy dew
Right proudly high over Dublin town They hung out the flag of war 'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky Than at Suvla or Sud el Bar And from the plains of Royal Meath Strong men came hurrying through While Brittania's huns with their long-range guns Sailed in through the foggy dew
Oh the night fell black and the rifle's crack Made perfidious Albion reel Mid the leaded rain seven tongues of flame Did shine o're the lines of steel By each shining blade a prayer was said That to Ireland her sons be true When the morning broke still the war flag shook Out its fold on the foggy dew
It was England bade our wild geese go That small nations might be free But their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves On the fringe of the geart North Sea Oh had they died by Pearse's side Or fought with Cathal Bruagh Their names we'd keep where the Fenians sleep 'Neath the shroud of the foggy dew
But the bravest fell, and the requiem bell Rang mournfully and clear For those who died that Eastertide In the springing of the year While the world did gaze with deep amaze At those fearless men but few Who bore the fight that freedom's light Might shine through the foggy dew
Then back through that glen I rode again And my heart with grief was sore For I parted then with valiant men Whom I never shall see more And back to and fro in dreams I'll go And I'll kneel and pray for you For slavery fled oh glorious dead When you fell in the foggy dew