Plant, Plant the Tree

DESCRIPTION: Freedom's sun is rising for Ireland. "Despotic sway from France is chas'd, And church delusion's vanish'd"; Ireland needs the same. "Plant ... fair Freedom's Tree." The French will help. "Erin Go Bragh" will replace "God Save the King." Wars will end
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1790s (Zimmerman-SongsOfIrishRebellion)
KEYWORDS: rebellion France Ireland political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Zimmerman-SongsOfIrishRebellion 5, "Plant, Plant the Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan-TheAgeOfRevolution-1776-1815 19, "Plant, Plant the Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES [91 words]: Evidently a reference to the events of the 1790s, when the French Revolution seemed to portend freedom for many nations. The irony is that instead it led to the Reign of Terror, and Napoleon, and not much else. Indeed, Ireland would see her freedom reduced; since 1782, she had had some internal autonomy under Grattan's Parliament (see the notes to "Ireland's Glory"). But the French were in fact very little help (see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght"), and Ireland would suffer first the 1798 rebellion and then the Union of the Parliaments. - RBW
File: Zimm005

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography