The following poem was included
by Rev. EJ Quigley P.P., Newbliss, County Monaghan, in an
article on Father James Coigley, the curate of Dundalk who
was hanged in Maidstone, England, on 7 June 1798 for his
involvement in the 1798 Rebellion. He had also been
sympathetic to the Defenders.
The poem was written by Arthur Forrester of County Monaghan,
date unknown.
THE FELONS OF OUR LAND
Fill up once more, we'll drink a toast
To comrades far away
No nation upon earth can boast
Of braver hearts than they;
And though they sleep in dungeons deep
Or flee, outlawed and b[an]ned;
We love these yet, we can't forget
The felons of our land.
In
boyhood's bloom and manhood's pride
Foredoomed
by alien laws
Some on the
scaffold proudly died
For holy
Ireland's cause.
And
brothers, say, shall we to-day
Unmoved,
like cowards stand
Whilst
traitors shame, and foes defame
The felons
of our land?.
Some in the
convict's dreary cell,
Have found
a living tomb,
And some
unseen, unfriended, fell
Within the
dungeon's gloom.
Yet, what
care we, although it be
Trod by a
ruffian band --
God bless
the clay where rest to-day
The felons
of our land.
Let cowards
sneer and tyrants frown
O! little
do we care--
A felon's
cap's the noblest crown
An Irish
head can wear.
And every
Gael in Innisfail
(Who scorne
the serf's vile brand)
From Lee to
Boyne would gladly join
The felons
of our land.
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