The other day a memory popped into my head from who-knows-where. I recall hearing an Irish song 40 or 50 years ago about marching to Dublin. The memory says the tune was by the Irish Rovers but that part may be a false memory. The clear part of the memory is the chorus containing the phrase “our bayonets flashing in the sun.” Can anyone identify the song from that small clue?
The cool thing about getting older is that you get to enjoy things over and over and over and…
Could it be [u]this one[/u]?
Off to Dublin in the Green
(Dominic Behan)I am a merry ploughboy and I ploughed the fields all day
'Till a sudden thought came to my mind that I should roam away
For I’m sick and tired of slavery since the day that I was born
And I’m off to join the I.R.A. and I’m off tomorrow morn.Cho: And we’re off to Dublin in the green, in the green
Where the helmets glisten in the sun
Where the bayonets flash and the rifles crash
To the echo of the Thompson Gun.I’ll leave aside my pick and spade and I’ll leave aside my plough
I’ll leave aside my old grey mare for no more I’ll need them now
And I’ll take my short revolver and my bandoleer of lead
I’ll do or die I can try to avenge my country’s dead.I’ll leave aside my Mary she’s the girl I do adore
And I wonder will she think of me when she hears the rifles roar
And when the war is over and old Ireland she is free
I will take her to the church to wed and a rebels wife she’ll be.
Recorded by The Dubliners, Wolfe Tones
Well done Slude.
That’s the one.
The first ever Dubliners song to get into the charts.
Popular opinion has it that the first one was “Seven drunken nights”.
Nah..the ploughboy was the one.
Your link left out some of the more interesting verses but not to worry.
It’s the thought that counts.
Well done.
Slan,
D. 
Oh, now you’ve piqued my curiosity. Where might one find those more interesting verses?
Here’s an extra verse that I’ve heard:
Well, some men fight for silver
And some men fight for gold
But the IRA is fighting for
The land that the Saxon stole
That sounds like it! Now, does anyone have the tune?
This verse goes to the Black Velvet Band. Funny. Melissmas be damned!
Well, some men fight for silver
And some men fight for gold
But the IRA are fighting for
The land De Valera sold.
That’s another popular version.
Well it is where I come from.
Slan,
D.
I recorded one verse on my low “D” whistle of what the tune soft of sounds like but I can’t figure out how to post it. I could email it to you if you like.
Here are the notes:
F G A A B B F B A E E E
E F G G G A A A G F
G F E A C B B A E
F A A E F G F D
(The F’s and C’s are sharp.)