| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
146 THE GOLDEN TREASURY OF |
||
|
JOSEPH IGNATIUS CONSTANTINE
CLARKE
(1846- )
ROUGH RIDER O'NEILL1
First recited by the author at the Annual Dinner of the New York Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, March 17, 1905, at which President Roosevelt was the guest.
W
HEN the cresset of war blazed over the land, And a call ran fierce thro' the West, Saying " Rough Riders, come to the roll of the drum," They came with their bravest and best, With a clatter of hoofs and a stormy hail —
Sinewy, lean, tall and brown; Hunters and fighters and men of the trail,
From hills and plains, from college and town; With the cowboys' yell and the redman's whoop,
Sons of thunder and swingers of steel; And, leading his own Arizona troop,
Rode glad and fearless " Bucky " O'Neill.
In the ranks there was Irish blood galore,
As it ever is sure to be When the Union flag is flung to the fore,
And the fight is to make men free. There were Kellys and Murphys and Burkes and Doyles —
' Copyright by J. I, C. Clarke. By permission. |
||