Print This Page#01308 Print This Page
Beresford, oh, Beresford, you're far from the land,
Keep your eye on the future to the shores of Newfoundland;
Left behind your family, your title, and the rest,
To spend your whole life with the one you love the best.
A family of foreign blood, not bidden by command,
They came onto the soil by plantation through the land;
North of Dublin city their home was made to rest,
And with the riches of the conquered land, their lives were surely blessed.
Now Beresford, an Alderman of cruel and savage ways,
Drumcondra house he lived his life, it stands unto this day;
In the fateful year of '98, rebellion swept the land,
It was in his bloody dungeons many suffered by his hand.
Beresford, oh, Beresford, you're far from the land,
Keep your eye on the future to the shores of Newfoundland;
Left behind your family, your title, and the rest,
To spend your whole life with the one you love the best.
Now Beresford he had a son, the mirror of his wife,
With the bright eyes of his mother, who died to give him life;
Now a man of twenty-one and heir onto his home,
His life was mapped out for him by his father years before;
The young man could ne'er describe this thing that touched his soul,
Like the freshness of a new day through his body she did flow;
A servant girl had won his heart, it ne'er could be the same,
And her lovely face he'd seen each morn till his dying day.
Beresford, oh, Beresford, you're far from the land,
Keep your eye on the future to the shores of Newfoundland;
Left behind your family, your title, and the rest,
To spend your whole life with the one you love the best.
What treachery is this I hear you bring into my home?
Servant girl and a catholic you will never make your own;
You'll marry in your own kind, you're promised, 'twill be done,
And the sons you'll have will do the same and keep this family strong.
A ship is ready to set sail, she waits upon the pier,
Anxious and uncertain till young Beresford is there;
No longer can I stay here, nor be my father's son,
Our fate is sealed together, love, oh, let what will be done.
Beresford, oh, Beresford, you're far from the land,
Keep your eye on the future to the shores of Newfoundland;
Left behind your family, your title, and the rest,
To spend your whole life with the one you love the best.
Brendan Nolan notes: The story for this song came from a conversation with a fellow from Newfoundland who claimed to be directly descended from the young Beresford. The only thing I know for sure is that John C. Beresford did torture suspected rebels during the 1798 rebellion. The rest is makey-up. Drumcondra house is today the sight of All Hollows, a training college for missionary priests.
