gave in to-morrow,
I would not think it right
To throw the least disparagement
On a man like General White.
He is making a bold resistance,
As great as could be made,
Against their deadly Mauser rifles,
And their tremendous cannonade.'

The 'Song of the Transvaal Irish Brigade' has more literary quality:--

'The Cross swings low; the morn is near--
Now, comrades, fill up high;
The cannon's voice will ring out clear
When morning lights the sky.
A toast we'll drink together, boys,
Ere dawns the battle's grey,
A toast to Ireland, dear old Ireland!
Ireland far away!
Ireland far away! Ireland far away!
Health to Ireland, strength to Ireland!
Ireland, boys, hurrah!

'Who told us that her cause was dead?
Who bade us bend the knee?
The slaves! Again she lifts her head--
Again she dares be free!
With gun in hand, we take our stand,
For Ireland in the fray:
We fight for Ireland, dear old Ireland!
Ireland far away!
Ireland far away! Ireland far away!
We fight for Ireland, die for Ireland--
Ireland, boys, hurrah!

'Oh, mother of the wounded breast!
Oh, mother of the tears!
The sons you loved, and trusted best,
Have grasped their battle spears.
From Shannon, Lagan, Liffey, Lee,
On Afric's soil to-day,
We strike for Ireland, brave old Ireland!
Ireland far away!
Ireland far away! Ireland far away!
We smite for Ireland, brave old Ireland!
Ireland, boys, hurrah!'

'The Irish Boy,' which is sung to the air of 'The Minstrel Boy,' is also
in honour of the Irish Brigade:--

'While the Irish boy is on the shore,
He'll help to crush the stranger;
He'll sweep them hence for evermore,
And free thy land from danger.
And then he'll pray to God above,
That his courage ne'er shall falter,
To guard him to the land he loves--
To Ireland o'er the water.'

Mayo is the county to which John MacBride, the leader of the Irish
Brigade, belongs; but I heard of a ballad-singer at Ballindereen, near
my Galway home, the other day, whose refrain was:--

'And Erin watches from afar, with joy and hope and pride,
Her sons who strike for liberty, led on by John MacBride!'

At Galway Railway Station, whence the Connaught Rangers set out for the
war, I have heard that