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IRISH SONGS AND LYRICS 211 |
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FONTENOY1
T
HRICE at the huts of Fontenoy the English column failed, And twice the lines of Saint Antoine the Dutch in vain assailed; For town and slope were filled with fort and flanking
battery, And well they swept the English ranks and Dutch
auxiliary. As vainly, through De Barri's wood, the British soldiers burst, The French artillery drove them back, diminished and
dispersed. The bloody Duke of Cumberland beheld with anxious
eye, And ordered up his last reserve, his latest chance to
try. On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, how fast his generals
ride ! And mustering come his chosen troops, like clouds at
eventide. |
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Six thousand English veterans in stately column tread, Their cannon blaze in front and flank, Lord Hay is at
their head; Steady they step a-down the slope—steady they climb
the hill;
1 The battle of Fontenoy, fought in Flanders in 1745 between the French and the Allies—English, Dutch, and Austrians—in which the Allies were worsted. The Irish Brigade fought by the side of the French, and won great renown by their splendid conduct in the field. |
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