Kelley's Irish Brigade
Come all you that hold communion
With southern Confederates bold,
While I tell you of some men who for the Union
In the northern ranks were enrolled;
Who came to Missouri in their "glory,"
And thought by their power we'd be dismayed;
But we soon made them tell a different story
When they met Relley's Irish Brigade.
cho: Three cheers for the Irish Brigade,
Three cheers for the Irish Brigade;
And all true-hearted Hibernians
In the ranks of Kelley's Irish Brigade!
You call us rebels and traitors,
But you have thrown off the name of late.
Yon were called it by the English invaders
At home in seventeen and ninety-eight
The name to us is not a new one,
It's one that we never will degrade.
And all true-hearted Hibernians
In the ranks of Kelley's Irish Brigade.
You dare not call us invaders,
'Tis but state rights and liberties we ask;
And Missouri, we will ever defend her,
No matter how hard be the task.
Then let the Irishmen assemble,
Let the voice of Missouri be obeyed;
And northern fanatics may tremble
When they meet Kelley's Irish Brigade.
From Ozark Folk Songs, Randolph
collected from Miss Hamilton in 1912 thru M. F. Besch
of the Kirksville Teachers College.
RG
oct96
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!