Lyrics
Words and Music by Ray Collins
In August 1969 in dear auld Belfast Town
An Orange mob in Bombay street burned the houses to the ground
‘B’ specials they ran riot firing bullets all around
Their battle-cry once again “make the Croppies lie down”
At Hastings street in the Lower Falls the RUC scum
Opened up on Divis Flats with a heavy Browning gun
They killed young Patrick Rooney asleep in his bed
And wounded his father Seamus as his 9 year old lay dead
At a barricade on the Kashmir Road heavy fighting had begun
A Loyalist dressed in black with a Sterling machine-gun
Fired on our neighbours with a heavy burst of lead
At the corner of Waterville Street a young boy lay dead
CHORUS
Gerald McAuley we lost a neighbour and a friend
Shot down in cold blood by a cowardly Orange fiend
Na Fianna Eireann lost that day a brave young Volunteer
When your short young life was ended in your fifteenth year
Your loving parents lost that day a strong brave young son
But in their hearts your smiling face will always lie on
You defended your neighbours against bigotry and hate
Under fire from the evil ire of a corrupt Orange State
The bigots of the RUC in dear auld Belfast Town
Laughed at our neighbours as their houses were burnt down
Sneering and jeering “make the Croppies lie down”
They’re the RUC bully-boys in Belfast Town
Copyright 2008 Colin Glen Music