Attend you gallant Irishmen and listen for a while
I'll sing to you the praises of the sons of Erin's Isle
It's of those gallant heroes who voluntarily ran
To release two Irish shamrocks from an English prison van
On the eighteenth of September, it was a dreadful year
When sorrow and excitement ran throughout all Lancashire
At a gathering of the Irish boys they volunteered each man
To release those Irish prisoners out of the prison van
(Chorus)
Hurrah! My lads for freedom, let’s all join heart and hand
May the Lord have mercy on the boys that helped to smash the van
In Manchester one morning those heroes did agree
Their leaders, Kelly and Deasy, should have their liberty
They drank a health to Ireland, and soon made up a plan
To meet the prisoners on the road and take and smash the van
(Repeat chorus)
With courage bold those heroes went and soon the van did stop
They cleared the guards from back and front and then smashed in the top
But in blowing open of the lock, they chanced to kill a man
So three must die on the scaffold high for smashing of the van
(Repeat chorus)
So now kind friends I will conclude, I think it would be right
That all true-hearted Irishmen together should unite
Together should sympathize, my friends, and do the best we can
To keep the memories ever green of the boys that smashed the van
I'll sing to you the praises of the sons of Erin's Isle
It's of those gallant heroes who voluntarily ran
To release two Irish shamrocks from an English prison van
On the eighteenth of September, it was a dreadful year
When sorrow and excitement ran throughout all Lancashire
At a gathering of the Irish boys they volunteered each man
To release those Irish prisoners out of the prison van
(Chorus)
Hurrah! My lads for freedom, let’s all join heart and hand
May the Lord have mercy on the boys that helped to smash the van
In Manchester one morning those heroes did agree
Their leaders, Kelly and Deasy, should have their liberty
They drank a health to Ireland, and soon made up a plan
To meet the prisoners on the road and take and smash the van
(Repeat chorus)
With courage bold those heroes went and soon the van did stop
They cleared the guards from back and front and then smashed in the top
But in blowing open of the lock, they chanced to kill a man
So three must die on the scaffold high for smashing of the van
(Repeat chorus)
So now kind friends I will conclude, I think it would be right
That all true-hearted Irishmen together should unite
Together should sympathize, my friends, and do the best we can
To keep the memories ever green of the boys that smashed the van
Contributed by Donquijote82 - 2008/6/16 - 17:15
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A soldier inside the van with Kelly and Deasey was accidentally shot as the door was blown open at gunpoint; and the three men captured afterwards, although little sure evidence was offered, were sentenced to hang. The two Irishmen rescued from the van were never caught. Every year in Manchester the three martyrs are commemorated by a march through the city headed by Republican pipe bands; a tiny Loyalist counter-demonstration usually turns up to wave orange flags and hide behind the rows of police.
Interpretata dai Chumbawamba
Performed by Chumbawamba
[1989]
Album: "English Rebel Songs 1381-1914"
The Cutty Wren - The Diggers' Song [Levellers and Diggers] - The Colliers March - The Triumph Of General Ludd - Chartists Anthem - Song on the Times - Smashing Of The Van - The World Turned Upside Down [Digger's Song] - Poverty Knock - Idris Strike Song - Hanging On The Old Barbed Wire
Nel 2003 i Chumbawamba hanno ripubblicato l'album aggiungendo alcune canzoni con il titolo ''English Rebel Songs 1381–1984'':
The Bad Squires - Coal Not Dole