The Wearing of the Green

The Wearing of the Green (1864)
by Dion Boucicault

This is the 1864 Dion Boucicault version of the Irish ballad, written for his 1864 play Arragh na Pogue, or the Wicklow Wedding.

O Paddy dear, an' did ye hear the news that's goin' round?

The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground;

St. Patrick's Day no more we'll keep, his colour can't be seen,

For there's a cruel law agin the wearin' o' the Green.

I met wid Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand,

And he said, "How's dear ould Ireland, and how does she stand?"

She's the most distressful country that ever yet was seen,

For they're hangin' men an' women there for the wearin' o' the Green.

Then since the colour we must wear is England's cruel red,

Sure Ireland's sons will ne'er forget the blood that they have shed,

You may take a shamrock from your hat and cast it on the sod,

It will take root and flourish there though underfoot it's trod.

When law can stop the blades of grass from growin' as they grow,

And when the leaves in summer-time their colour dare not show,

Then will I change the colour, too, I wear in my caubeen

But 'till that day, please God, I'll stick to wearin' o' the Green.

But if at last our colour should be torn from Ireland's heart,

Her sons with shame and sorrow from the dear old isle will part;

I've heard a whisper of a land that lies beyond the sea

Where rich and poor stand equal in the light of freedom's day.

O Erin, must we leave you driven by a tyrant's hand?

Must we ask a mother's blessing from a strange and distant land?

Where the cruel cross of England shall nevermore be seen,

And where, please God, we'll live and die still wearin' o' the green!

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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