The Croppy Boy
Anonymous
| Original | Con il nome di "The Croppy Boy" si riconoscono due distinte versioni... |
| THE CROPPY BOY It was early early in the spring, The birds did whistle and sweetly sing, Changing their notes from tree to tree, And the song they sang was old Ireland free. It was early early last Tuesday night, The yeoman cavalry gave me a fright; The yeoman cavalry was my downfall, And taken was I by Lord Cornwall. It was to the guard-house I then was led, And in a parlour I was tried; My sentence passed and my courage low To New Geneva I was forced to go. As I was passing my father's door, My brother William stood at the door; My aged father stood at the door, And my tender mother her hair she tore. As I was walking up Wexford Street My own first cousin I chanced to meet; My own first cousin did me betray, And for one bare guinea swore my life away. My sister Mary heard the express, She ran upstairs in her morning dress Five hundred guineas she would lay down, To see me liberated in Wexford Town. As I was walking up Wexford Hill, Who could blame me to cry my fill? I looked behind and I looked before, But my tender mother I shall ne'er see more. As I was mounted on the platform high, My aged father was standing by; My aged father did me deny, And the name he gave me was the Croppy Boy. It was in Geneva this young man died, And in Geneva his body lies; All you good Christians that do pass by Breathe a prayer, shed a tear for the Croppy Boy | THE CROPPY BOY I Accadde all’inizio della primavera, quando gli uccellini cinguettavano dolcemente cambiando registro, di ramo in ramo, e la melodia che cantavano era: “Cara Irlanda Libera!” II Accadde in una notte buia e senza stelle i soldati inglesi mi sorpresero. i soldati inglesi sono la causa della mia rovina, fui preso da Lord Cornwallis. III Mentre ero portato per Wexford street per caso ho incrociato mio cugino di primo grado, è stato mio cugino a tradirmi, ha venduto la mia vita per una sola, misera ghinea IV Mia sorella Mary sentì la notizia, e corse giù dalle scale in camicia da notte “La mia vita e virtù sacrificherò per vedere mio fratello salpare dalla città di Wexford” V Fui messo sulla forca in alto ma mio padre mi stava vicino, mio padre era in piedi e mi ha rinnegato e il nome che mi ha dato fu il “Ragazzo Ribelle” VI A Duncannon le mie speranze giacciono perché a Duncannon devo morire non versate lacrime voi che passate perché vado fiero di essere il “Ragazzo Irlandese Ribelle” |
