Here he sits in a dark dungeon, sentenced to death - Ireland's most hapless revolutionary. Imspired by Wolfe Tone and bedecked in a fantasy uniform, Robert Emmet gathered a mob, proclaimed the revolution and marched on Dublin Castle. Only to be soundly defeated in record time. A mere ripple in history, soon forgotton.
But Robert Emmet managed to march straight into the pantheon of Irish independence - partly due to an impassioned speech in defense of his rebellion, partly due to his stubborn insistence on not to rescue himself (despite an Irish proverb bluntly stating that he who flees lives to fight another day).
It is unsure who wrote this song - first published in the early 1900s it is often attributed to Tom Maguire.
Bold Robert Emmet
The struggle is over, the boys are defeated,
Old Ireland's surrounded with sadness and gloom,
We were defeated and shamefully treated,
And I, Robert Emmet, awaiting my doom.
Hung, drawn and quartered, sure that was my sentence,
But soon I will show them no coward am I.
My crime is the love of the land I was born in,
A hero I lived and a hero I'll die.
Chorus:
Bold Robert Emmet, the darling of Ireland,
Bold Robert Emmet will die with a smile,
Farewell companions both loyal and daring,
I'll lay down my life for the Emerald Isle.
The barque lay at anchor awaiting to bring me
Over the billows to the land of the free;
But I must see my sweetheart for I know she will cheer me,
And with her I will sail far over the sea.
But I was arrested and cast into prison,
Tried as a traitor, a rebel, a spy;
But no man can call me a knave or a coward,
A hero I lived and a hero I'll die.
Chorus
Hark! I the bell's tolling, I well know its meaning,
My poor heart tells me it is my death knell;
In come the clergy, the warder is leading,
I have no friends here to bid me farewell.
Goodbye, old Ireland, my parents and sweetheart,
Companions in arms to forget you must try;
I am proud of the honour, it was only my duty
A hero I lived and a hero I'll die.
Chorus
