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The Bantry Girl's Lament (2) 
The Bantry Girl's Lament (2) 
Who will plough the fields all day and who will thrash the corn? Who will tend the sheep now and see them neatly shorn? The stack that's in the haggard, unthrashed it may remain Now that Johnny's gone a-thrashing all in the wars in Spain 
The girls from the bawnogue in sorrow may retire And the piper with his bellows may go home and blow the fire For Johnny, lovely Johnny is sailing o'er the main Along with the other patriots for to fight the King of Spain 
The boys will surely miss him when Moneymore comes round And they'll weep that their bold captain is nowhere to be found And the peelers may stand idle, all against their will and main Since the gallant boy who gave them work now peels the King of Spain 
At wakes and hurling matches your like we'll never see Till you come back again to us a stor gra geal mo chroi Then wont you thrash the buckeens that show us such disdain Because our eyes are not so bright as those you'll see in Spain 
If cruel fate should not allow our Johnny to return His heavy loss we Bantry girls will never cease to mourn We'll resign ourselves to our sad lot and live in grief and pain Since Johnny died for freedom's sake in the foreign land of Spain 
Dates from the Pensinsular War. MR apr97