Homesick, sad, and weary,
Heartsick, hungry, dreary,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
O'Brien, Burke, and Tracy,
MacMahon, Dillon, Lacy,
We watch the town.
"What mean those distant sounds!"
As the famished panther bounds,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
So he bounded through the gate.
"Rouse ye, comrades, ye are late!
National Museum of Ireland
Prince Eugene has your town!"
"Are ye mad, or in a
trance?
Waken, gentlemen of France!"
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
"See your lilied flags are
flapping,
And your Marshal is caught napping
In Cremona town."
Again and yet again,
Though the third of us are slain,
(Shout boys, Erin's the renown!)
Though Sieur Villeroi is taken,
And the lilied flags are shaken,
Till our tardy comrades waken,
We keep the town.
Back to back, and face to face,
Wrest from fate this night's disgrace
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Ere the sun rose from its bed
Or that livid dawn grew red
Every German spear had fled
From Cremona town.
So failed Eugene's advance,
So failed all foes of France!
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Let her praises still resound,
And while the world goes round,
To their praise too redound,
Who stood the victors crowned
In Cremona town.
Lawless, Emily (1902) With the wild geese. Isbister & Co. Ltd.
Notes:
The first stanza contains the lines:
“O'Brien,
Burke, and Tracy,
MacMahon, Dillon, Lacy,”
These are senior officers and commanders of the
Regiments of the Irish Wild Geese in Europe with the exception of Tracy. I have
been unable to find a senior officer named Tracy. In D'Alton Illustrations
Historical and Genealogical, of King James's Irish Army, there
are also no Tracy officers listed, but there was a listing heading, presumably
with the expectation that there would be some. Also, there appears to have been
a disportionate number of Tracys among the Wild Greece. As such, I presume that
Tracy was included as a contemporary reference perhaps to Sir Richard Edward
Tracey (1837-1907) admiral of the Royal Navy or Benjamin Franklin Tracy (1830-1915)
United States political figure and
Secretary of the Navy.
Ref:
1600-1799 Wild Geese
http://www.traceyclann.com/files/1600-1799%20Wild%20Geese.htm
Last update: 10
February 2010