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Oh our troop was made ready at the dawning of the day,
From lovely Enniskillen they were marching us away;
They put us on aboard a ship to cross the raging main,
For to fight the bloody battle in the sunny land of Spain.
Fare thee well Enniskillen, fare thee well for a while,
And all around the borders of Erin's green isle;
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom,
And you'll all welcome home the Enniskillen Dragoons.
Oh now Spain is a gallant land where the wine and ale flow free,
And there's lots of lovely women there to dandle on your knee;
And often in a tavern there we'd make the rafters ring,
When every soldier in the house would lift his glass and sing:
Fare thee well Enniskillen, fare thee well for awhile,
And all around the borders of Erin's green isle;
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom,
And you'll all welcome home the Enniskillen Dragoons.
Well we fought for Erin's glory there and many a man did fall,
From musket and from bayonet and from thundering cannonball;
And many a foeman we laid low amid the battle throng,
As we prepared for action you would often hear this song:
Fare thee well Enniskillen, fare thee well for awhile,
And all around the borders of Erin's green isle;
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom,
And you'll all welcome home the Enniskillen Dragoons.
Well now the fighting's over, and for home we have set sail,
Our flag above this lofty ship is fluttering in the gale;
They've given us a pension, boys, of fourpence every day,
And when we reach Enniskillen never more we'll have to say:
Fare thee well Enniskillen, fare thee well for awhile,
And all around the borders of Erin's green isle;
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom,
And you'll all welcome home the Enniskillen Dragoons.
Fare thee well Enniskillen, fare thee well for awhile,
And all around the borders of Erin's green isle;
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom,
And you'll all welcome home the Enniskillen Dragoons.
This variant was arranged and recorded by Ryan's Fancy (Newfoundland Drinking Songs, ©1973, Audat Records).
See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
The original version of this song, The Enniskillen Dragoons, is about the Royal Dragoons of Ireland, a cavalry regiment formed in 1689 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The regiment was deployed in Spain in the first decade of the eighteenth century.
