Native Swords

DESCRIPTION: "We've bent too long to braggart wrong, While force our prayers derided; We've fought too long, ourselves among..." The singer briefly recounts the story of Irish rebellion, concluding, "But now, thank God, our native sod Has native swords to guard it."
AUTHOR: Thomas Davis (1814-1845)
EARLIEST DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Galvin-IrishSongsOfResistance, pp. 41-42, "Native Swords" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster, p. 216, "Native Swords" (1 text)
Roud #V27520
NOTES [83 words]: Thomas Davis (1814-1845) was an Irish poet and patriot. A member of Daniel O'Connell's National Repeal Association from 1841, he started the Nation newspaper in 1842 and was a leader of the "Young Ireland" movement that sought a more modern approach to independence.
He is probably most famous for writing "A Nation Once Again."
Davis died of scarlet fever in 1845, and it never really became clear whether he supported violent revolution or agreed with O'Connell in espousing peaceful reform. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: PGa041

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