There Were Roses - John Whelan

Composed by：Tommy Sands

Produced by：John Whelan/Michael Sullivan

My song for you this evening

It's not to make you sad

Nor for adding to the sorrows of

A troubled Northern land

But lately I been thinking

And it just won't leave my mind

I'll tell you of two friends

One time were both good friends of mine

Isaac Scott from Benny

He lived just across the field

A great man for the music and the

Dancing and the reels

MacDonald came from South Armagh

To court young Agnes fair

It's then we'd meet on Ryan Road

And laughter filled the air

Now Isaac he was Protestant

And Sean was Catholic born

But it never made a difference

For the friendship it was strong

And sometimes in the evening

When we heard the sound of drums

We said War won't divide us

We always will be one

For the land our fathers plow in

The soil it is the same

And the places where we say our

Prayers have just got different

Names

We talked about the friends who'd died

We hoped there'd be no more

It was little then we realized the tragedy in store

And there were roses roses

There were roses

And the tears of the people ran together

It was on a Sunday morning when

The awful news came around

Another killing had been done

Just outside Caplan town

We knew that Isaac danced up there

We knew he liked the band

When we heard that he was dead

And we just could not understand

We gathered at the graveside on

A cold and rainy day

The minister just closed his eyes

And for no revenge he prayed

And all of us who knew him from along the Ryan Road

We bowed our heads and said

A prayer for the resting of his soul

And there were roses roses

There were roses

And the tears of the people ran together

Now fear it filled the countryside

There was fear in every home

And late at night a car came

Prowling round the Ryan Road

A Catholic would be killed tonight

To even up the score

Ah Christ it's young MacDonald

That they've taken from the door

Isaac was my friend he cried

He begged them with his fear

But centuries of hatred have ears that cannot hear

An eye for an eye it was all that filled their minds

And another eye for another eye

'Til everyone is blind

And there were roses roses

There were roses

And the tears of the people ran together

Now I don't know where the moral is

Or how this song should end

But I wonder just how many wars

Are fought between good friends

And those who give the orders

They are not the ones to die

It's Scott and MacDonald and the likes of you and I

And there were roses roses

There were roses

And the tears of the people ran together

And there were roses roses