General Munro

My name is John Snaney, my age is eighteen,
Many's a hard skirmish and battles been in;
But this is the hardest I have to undergo--o--o, o--o,
Command by that hero called General Munro.

Oh, Ross took the mountains, Munro took the field,
Munro being valiant, to him would not yield;
"The rattlings of those small arms shan't never daunt me so--o--o, o--o,
Fight on, my brave heroes," called General Munro.

Munro being drowsy for the want of some sleep,
He gave five-ten guineas his secrets to keep;
But when they got the money they servèd him so--o--o, o--o,
They sent for the cavalry to take in Munro.

The cavalry came there and surrounded the field,
Munro being valiant, to him forced to yield;
They took him a prisoner without more delay--o--o, o--o,
Clapped his head on a spear that very same day.

Here's adieu to my wife and children all three,
My land and my living I will give unto thee;
My land and my living I will give unto you--ou--ou, ou--ou,
And the sweet county of Wexford I'll now bid adieu.

His sister came there, she was clothed all in green,
With a large glittering sword so sharp and so keen;
She slayed five of those tyrants before she did go--o--o, o--o,
Saying, "Fetch me my brother called General Munro."

Oh, now to conclude and to finish my song,
Oh, something might happen before it is long;
May the union of liberty to the kingdom now go--o--o, o--o,
And the tyrants lay bleeding that beheaded Munro.

####.... Author unknown. Variant of a traditional Irish ballad found in the Journal Of The Irish Folk Song Society, XIV, 35, and Colm Lochlainn's Irish Street Ballads. Also a variant of a 19th century British broadside ballad, General Munroe, published by E.M.A. Hodges (London) someime between 1846 and 1854, and archived at the Bodleian Library Boradside Ballads, shelfmark: Johnson Ballads 614 ....####

Collected in 1958 from Freeman Bennett of St. Pauls, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.998-999, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

Note: General Henry Munro (1758-1798) was a Scottish Protestant linen draper from Lisburn and leader of County Down rebels. Three days after the defeat at Ballinahinch (13 June, 1798) he was hanged in front of his own home and beheaded.