Twelfth of July, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer tells how Montreal Irish lick the "yellowbacks." On July 12, Fawcett fires a revolver. Hackett fires back, but is mortally wounded. Listeners are reminded that King Billy "tore down Catholic churches..." but they can't do it in Montreal
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1957 (recording, Tom Brandon; also in Fowke/Ontario)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer tells how the Irish Catholics of Montreal licked the "yellowbacks." On July 12 an Orangemen's parade clashes with Unionists; one Fawcett fires a revolver, swearing to "kill every papist dog." Hackett fires back, but is mortally wounded. Listeners are exhorted to remember that King Billy and his supporters "tore down Catholic churches from Lewis to Donegal," but they can't get away with it in Montreal
KEYWORDS: hate battle fight violence death homicide Ireland
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 12, 1877: Clash between Irish Catholics and Protestants in Montreal
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario 38, "The Twelfth of July" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Twelfth of July" (1957, on Ontario1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Belfast Riot" (Canadian political situation)
NOTES [323 words]: Despite the song, there was no Orangemen's parade on July 12 (the day when Irish Protestants celebrate William III's victory in the battle of the Boyne); according to newspaper accounts, plans for a parade had been dropped due to rising tensions. However, brawling broke out in a mixed crowd of Orangemen and Unionists in Victoria Square; in the fight, Francis Hackett was fatally shot. - PJS
Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario, pp. 182-183, has a contemporary newspaper account of the incident.
The British had guaranteed Catholic rights in Quebec when they took over the territory in 1760, but the Catholics took many years to believe this. In the aftermath of William Lyon Mackenzie's 1837 rebellion, Governor General John Lambton, Earl of Durham, proposed constitutional changes (e.g. merging Upper and Lower Canada, i.e. Ontario and Quebec) which were viewed as attacking the Canadiens' identity. These and other changes fueled Catholic fears, and the tensions lasted for years. Indeed, the disagreements still persist, though the religious element seems to have largely dropped out.
It is ironic to note that many of Durham's reforms, such as local representation, were liberal and have become universal in the years since his time (see James L. Stokesbury, Navy & Empire, Morrow, 1983, p. 228). His problem was that he, like many reformers, talked to the "wrong" people, so the elites despised him, but he didn't know how to appeal to the general population.
In addition to the disturbance of 1877 apparently cited here, Graeme Wynn reports that "Limbs were bruised and heads broken when Protestant Orangemen celebrated the victory of William of Orange over Irish Catholic forces at the Battle of the Boyne on July 12, 1690, clashed with 'Green' Catholics in and around the Irish districts of several cities [in Canada] in the 1830s and 1840s." (From Craig Brown, editor, The Illustrated History of Canada, p. 267).- RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: Rc12July

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