Author:
Anonymous Irish loyalist poem of the 1850s [Crimean War; Indian Mutiny; Pig War; American Civil War]
Publication details:
Late 1850s: dating from after the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny, and before the American Civil War.
An interesting piece of Irish demotic verse, an unpublished work by an unknown hand. A rough-hewn but highly-effective piece of writing, in which the author?s voice can be clearly heard (he rhymes ?forget? with ?death?, writes ?trashed? for ?thrashed? and ?fronth? for ?fronth?, and speaks of ?baynots?). The poem clearly conveys the author?s bloodthirsty relish for battle against the ?Yankees?, as he urges his countrymen on with cries of ?Faugh a ballagh? and ?Erin go bragh?. The viewpoint he presents sounds odd to modern ears: he is both one of the ?Brave sons of Saint Patrick?
