Clareman at Fonteneye

Drugness

Hello all

I'm not a Clare man but i thought this would be the best area of the site to ask!

Has anyone every heard of the above named poem? I'm not sure the spelling is correct, i believe it was written by a Clare man who was in the French Foreign Legion.
I haven't been able to find the words online, but i believe it goes back a long way.

I've been trying to get the words for months now, hope someone can help me

Regards to all

DG

emanresu

There is a poem called Fontenoy by Thomas Davis (1814-1845)
(although he was not a Clareman, and it was before the time of the French Foreign Legion).
It was written in .... about the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745.
Is this what you are looking for?

The full text is online on several webpages including the following:
http://irelandsown.net/fontenoy.html
http://www.libraryireland.com/Atlas/LXXV-Irish-Brigade-Fontenoy.php
http://literaryballadarchive.com/PDF/Davis1_Fontenoy_f.pdf

"Lord Clare" (Charles O'Brien) is mentioned in the 4th verse, and he was from County Clare.
He is mentioned on the following webpage:
http://www.irelandmidwest.com/clare/towns/Carrigaholt.htm
"..... A descendant, also Lord Clare, became a Marshal in the French army and fought at Fontenoy (1745) and other battles. ....."
He is also mentioned here:
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/claremuseum/news_events/clares_wild_geese.htm

Another Clareman at Fontenoy is mentioned on this wepage:
http://www.irishdemocrat.co.uk/features/remember-fontenoy/
"..... It is said that a Captain Antony MacDonagh of Dillon's Regiment, a Co. Clare man, was the first to exhort his men to remember why they were there. He became the first of the Irish Brigade to engage the enemy. The entire Brigade took up his battle-cry. ....."
He is also mentioned here:
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/claremuseum/news_events/clares_wild_geese.htm

There is also a poem called "The Battle of Fontenoy, A Historical Poem" by William J. Corbet (1824-1909).
http://openlibrary.org/b/OL7060926M/Battle_of_Fontenoy

There is also another poem called "The Brigade at Fontenoy" or "The Battle of Fontenoy" by Bartholomew Dowling (1823-1863).
http://irelandsown.net/fontenoy2.html
http://www.poetry-archive.com/d/battle_of_fontenoy.html

If this is not what you are looking for, you may get a better response if you ask to have this moved from "Clare" to "Military" or "History & Heritage"

kilnamona

[SIZE=+1]Fontenoy, 1745[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]by Emily Lawless (1845-1913)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
1. Before the Battle; night.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Oh, bad the march, the weary march, beneath these alien skies,
But good the night, the friendly night, that soothes our tired eyes.
And bad the war, the tedious war, that keeps us sweltering here,
But good the hour, the friendly hour, that brings the battle near.
That brings us on to battle, that summons to their share
The homeless troops, the banished men, the exiled sons of Clare.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Oh, little Corca Baiscinn, the wild, the bleak, the fair!
Oh, little stony pastures, whose flowers are sweet, if rare!
Oh, rough the rude Atlantic, the thunderous, the wide,
Whose kiss is like a soldier's kiss which will not be denied!
The whole night long we dream of you, and waking think we're there -
Vain dream, and foolish waking, we never shall see Clare.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The wind is wild to-night, there's battle in the air;
The wind is from the west, and it seems to blow from Clare.
Have you nothing, nothing for us, loud brawler of the night?
No news to warm our heart strings, to speed us through the fight?
In this hollow, star-pricked darkness as in the sun's hot glare,
In sun-tide, in star-tide, we thirst, we starve for Clare.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Hark, yonder through the darkness one distant rat-at-tat!
The old foe stirs out there, God bless his soul for that!
The old foe musters strongly, he's coming home at last,
And Clare's Brigade may claim its own wherever blows fall fast.
Send us, ye western breezes, our full, our rightful share,
For Faith and fame, and Honour, and the ruined hearths of Clare.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]11. After the Battle; early dawn, Clare coast.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]"Mary Mother, shield us! Say, what men are ye,
Sweeping past so swiftly on this morning sea?"
"Without sails or rowlocks merrily we glide
Home to Corca Baiscinn on the brimming tide."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]"Jesus save you, gentry! Why are you so white,
Sitting all so straight and still in this misty light?
"Nothing ails us, brother; joyous souls are we,
Sailing home together, on the morning sea."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]"Cousins, friends, and kinsfolk, children of the land,
Here we come together, a merry, rousing, band;
Sailing home together from the last great fight,
Home to Clare from Fontenoy, in the morning light.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Men of Corca Baiscinn, men of Clare's Brigade,
Harken stony hills of Clare, hear the charge we made;
See us come together, singng from the fight,
Home to Corca Baiscinn, in the morning light."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE]

Auldloon

Oh, bad the march, the weary march, beneath these alien skies,
But good the night, the friendly night, that soothes our tired eyes.
And bad the war, the tedious war, that keeps us sweltering here,
But good the hour, the friendly hour, that brings the battle near.
That brings us on to battle, that summons to their share
The homeless troops, the banished men, the exiled sons of Clare.