The Minstrel Boy. A St. Patrick’s Day Reflection on Fighting the Fight, Even if it Looks Hopeless

“Though All the World Betray Thee”

As Donald Trump flaunts court orders and his administration shreds the Constitution as they drive us into their dystopian Nazi Hell, I reflect on a song of resistance, the Irish song, The Minstrel Boy.

The song became a favorite of mine while in Iraq with our advisors to the Iraqi Army, Border Security forces, and police in Al Anbar Province from 2007-2008, and following my return when my sense of betrayal by the political party and media figures I trusted had betrayed me and countless others. I knew the song long before I went to Iraq, but it became real after it.

It was written by Thomas Moore while a student in honor of friends killed in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The song was very popular among soldiers of Irish descent in the American Civil War as well as soldiers fighting in Irish Regiments in World War One and World War Two, American and those serving in the British Army, particularly the Irish Guards.

Unlike many of Moore’s contemporaries works, the song does not speak of a soon coming victory for the resistance, instead it talks of defeat and slavery, which is a possibility for Americans today as Trump’s unchecked tyranny marches on. But in such a time it is necessary to continue the fight. Other revolutionaries in other countries adopted the song and translated it to their situations which often appeared hopeless. Our situation is not hopeless, but it is dire.

The song is powerful when you hear it for it speaks of the reality of war, war that changes those, even those that return home are not unchanged by it. It speaks of the sacrifices required by those that go to war and even the effects on the community, the loss of young people. The final verse added by an anonymous author during the American Civil War in a sense is a prayer, a prayer of return as well as reconciliation. It has been recorded a number of times including an instrumental during the film Blackhawk Down. Another rendition is in the television mini-series Rough Riders about the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry led by Theodore Roosevelt at the Battle of San Juan Hill and one in the movie Gettysburg as Father Corby blesses the Irish Brigade before the battle in the Wheat Field.

Moore’s original verses are here.

The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death ye will find him;
His father’s sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;
“Land of Song!” said the warrior bard,
“Tho’ all the world betray thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!”

The Minstrel fell! But the foeman’s chain
Could not bring his proud soul under;
The harp he lov’d ne’er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said “No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!”

Another verse was added by an anonymous author during the American Civil War, it adds a twist to the tradition.

The Minstrel Boy will return we pray
When we hear the news we all will cheer it,
The minstrel boy will return one day,
Torn perhaps in body, not in spirit.
Then may he play on his harp in peace,
In a world such as heaven intended,
For all the bitterness of man must cease,
And ev’ry battle must be ended.

I was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this evening and the tavern had a piper who played The Minstrel Boy as his first song. I know the words by heart so I joined in. It did me well and with all going on in our country coupled with the death of my friend Pete, I drank more than a few drams of Irish whiskey.

I see many of the “minstrel boys” and girls of our era and having also been to war and come back changed, so the last lines of the final verse is a prayer that I echo. One of the versions that I particularly like is the one sung in the Star Trek the Next Generation episode “The Wounded.” While it is only the first verse it deals with the lives of two officers whose lives are forever changed by war.

I cannot understand only image how our lives will be changed in light of Trump’s soon to be very real dictatorship.

Until next time, be safe, watch your six and don’t give up. We are not yet defeated.