’Oh!  Paddy dear, and did ye hear
      The news that’s going round? 
    No cheers for brave Paul Kruger
      Must be heard on Irish ground. 
    No more the English tourist at
      Killarney will be seen,
    Unless you join the pirate’s cause,
      And chant “God save the Queen."’

Or this other, sung during the siege of Ladysmith:—­

    ’And I met with White the General,
      And he’s looking thin enough;
    And he says the boys in Ladysmith
      Are running short of stuff. 
    Faith, the dishes need no washing,
      Now they’re left so nice and clean;
    Oh! it’s anything but pleasant
      To be starving for the Queen!’

The defender of Ladysmith is treated with greater courtesy than some other generals, for, in spite of sympathy with the besiegers, the singer says:—­

    ’But if he gave in to-morrow,
      I would not think it right
    To throw the least disparagement
      On a man like General White. 
    He is making a bold resistance,
      As great as could be made,
    Against their deadly Mauser rifles,
      And their tremendous cannonade.’

The ‘Song of the Transvaal Irish Brigade’ has more literary quality:—­

    ’The Cross swings low; the morn is near—­
      Now, comrades, fill up high;
    The cannon’s voice will ring out clear
      When morning lights the sky. 
    A toast we’ll drink together, boys,
      Ere dawns the battle’s grey,
    A toast to Ireland, dear old Ireland! 
          Ireland far away! 
    Ireland far away!  Ireland far away! 
      Health to Ireland, strength to Ireland! 
          Ireland, boys, hurrah!

    ’Who told us that her cause was dead? 
      Who bade us bend the knee? 
    The slaves!  Again she lifts her head—­
      Again she dares be free! 
    With gun in hand, we take our stand,
      For Ireland in the fray: 
    We fight for Ireland, dear old Ireland! 
          Ireland far away! 
    Ireland far away!  Ireland far away! 
      We fight for Ireland, die for Ireland—­
          Ireland, boys, hurrah!

    ’Oh, mother of the wounded breast! 
      Oh, mother of the tears! 
    The sons you loved, and trusted best,
      Have grasped their battle spears. 
    From Shannon, Lagan, Liffey, Lee,
      On Afric’s soil to-day,
    We strike for Ireland, brave old Ireland! 
          Ireland far away! 
    Ireland far away!  Ireland far away! 
      We smite for Ireland, brave old Ireland! 
          Ireland, boys, hurrah!’

‘The Irish Boy,’ which is sung to the air of ‘The Minstrel Boy,’ is also in honour of the Irish Brigade:—­