To the tiny homesteads of the West
The recruiting sergeant came
He promised all a future bright
So the brave young men went off to fight
For the empire and her might
And many's the victory they had won
Many the hardships they had seen
They fought and died, side by side
Their enemies they had defied and for a foreign king
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
While serving in a far off land
The news had come from home
Of a peoples' fate it did relate
Of the tans and their campaign of hate
And we're fighting on their side
Arise Arise young Daly cried
Come join along with me
We'll strike a blow for Liberty
Our regiment will mutiny and support our friends at home
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
And the Colonel stood before his troops
Those men who mutineed
He told them of those honours won
But the men stood in the blazing sun
Saying we'll fight your wars no more
For cannon fodder we had been
For the French at Waterloo at Suvla and Sud Elbar
We fought your every bloody war
And we'll fight you wars to more
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
Those men got penal servitude
And Daly's condemned to die
Far from his home in Tyrellpass
This young man's died in Ireland's cause
Far from his native land
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
The recruiting sergeant came
He promised all a future bright
So the brave young men went off to fight
For the empire and her might
And many's the victory they had won
Many the hardships they had seen
They fought and died, side by side
Their enemies they had defied and for a foreign king
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
While serving in a far off land
The news had come from home
Of a peoples' fate it did relate
Of the tans and their campaign of hate
And we're fighting on their side
Arise Arise young Daly cried
Come join along with me
We'll strike a blow for Liberty
Our regiment will mutiny and support our friends at home
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
And the Colonel stood before his troops
Those men who mutineed
He told them of those honours won
But the men stood in the blazing sun
Saying we'll fight your wars no more
For cannon fodder we had been
For the French at Waterloo at Suvla and Sud Elbar
We fought your every bloody war
And we'll fight you wars to more
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
Those men got penal servitude
And Daly's condemned to die
Far from his home in Tyrellpass
This young man's died in Ireland's cause
Far from his native land
And the drums they were a beating time
While the pipes did loudly play
When Daly died, the drums did beat
That morning in the Dagshai heat
Now we'll beat the drums no more
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This first campaign was a disaster for the inexperienced regiment, but in the campaigns that followed in the West Indies, Egypt, India and South America the Connaught Rangers evolved in a respected, tough, and well-oiled war machine. During the Peninsula War from 1808 until 1814 the regiment fought in Wellington's army on the Iberian Peninsula and obtained the honourable nickname The Devil's Own.
Not only in battle the Connaught Rangers lived up to its nickname, as the regiment is also known for its plundering habits.
During the First World War the Connaught Rangers were deployed at several battlefields in for example Belgium and France. The regiment adopted It's A Long Way To Tipperary as its favourite marching song.
After the First World War the Connaught Rangers were split up in two battalions. The Second Battalion, was sent to Poland and the First Battalion to India. When the news about the Irish Civil War and the deeds of the Black and Tans, veterans who - like the Connaught Rangers - had fought in the Great War, reached India a mutiny broke out. About 70 mutineers faced court-martial from which 14 were sentenced to death. Eventually only one mutineer, Private James Daly, was actually executed. Following the mutiny the Connaught Rangers were dispatched to a remote corner of the British Empire. Both battalions returned to Britain in June 1922 and the regiment was disbanded on 31 July 1922.
(Triskelle)