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228

THE CHASE FROM THE HOSTEL.

[“‘Bad luck to ould bandy-legged Schomberg]

“‘Bad luck to ould bandy-legged Schomberg,
King William and Mary also!
For 'tis they that did wather ould Ireland
With bloodshed an' murther an' woe.
Ould Schomberg ------’
229

“MOLL ROONE.

“There's a girl in Kilmurry,—my own loved one,—
The loveliest colleen that the sun shines on:
Her eyes are as bright as the May-tide moon,
And the devil a girl like my own Moll Roone!
I mounted my steed in the evening brown,
And away I spurred till the storm came down,
Away over mountains and moorlands dun,
Till I came to the cottage of my own Moll Roone.
230

I sat me down by the bogwood fire,
And I said that her love was my heart's desire;
And she gave me her love,—oh! she granted my boon,
And my heart was glad for my own Moll Roone.
Come! what is the use of a brave brown steed,
But to spur to the doing of a gallant deed?
And what is the use of a sword or gun,
But to fight for a girl like my own Moll Roone?
As I rode down the mountains one Saturday night,
The valley below was one blaze of light;
And I found out its meaning full sadly and soon,
'Twas the foe fired the cottage of my own Moll Roone.
I spurred thro' Blackwater, o'er brake and moor,
I spurred thro' the foe to her cottage door:
There my sword cleft the skull of a Dutch dragoon,
And I bore away in triumph my own Moll Roone.”
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