Ended thy pain and weeping, dearest one!
In plaintive strains our hearts shall mourn our heroes,
Till once again thy banner waveth free,
Close to thy breast, then guard them, gentle Eire,
There shall they rest till time shall cease to be!
If any proof were needed of the unbroken spirit of our men after the rising, there could be none better than in the gay and challenging tone of many of the songs written and sung at the internment camp at Frongoch, Wales. The British guards were particularly irritated by one in which every verse ended with the line:
"Sinn Feiners, Pro-Germans, alive, alive O!"
But there was another that the guards not only tolerated but took to singing themselves, much to the amusement of our men. The reason they sang it was because the air was catchy and they had no means of knowing that the "N. D. U." is the North Dublin Union or workhouse. It was written by Jack McDonagh, brother of Thomas McDonagh, the poet, who signed the proclamation of the republic and was shot for it. Here is the chorus:
Come along and join the British Army,