The Benedy Glen

The Benedy Glen Through Benedy Glen oft at eve have I wandered With a heart that is lighter than the dew of the morn Her heather-clad mountains and clear crystal fountains Delightful to view by the light of the dawn I see her green hills and swift-running streamlets Eternally flowing right on to the sea By her side I lie down on a bank of blue violets And its murmuring and gurgling are music to me In far foreign lands oft do her sons wander By Niagara Falls or the Prairie Grand Where nature is seen both majestic and savage But their hearts are at home in their dear native land They long to return to the banks of the Lena The Roe and its branches on every side Where there lies brave Cooey, that once-mighty chieftain Who once 'gainst the Saxon defended with pride Her daughters are fair and her sons, they are gallant They scorn the tyrant, the serf or the slave Their rights they maintain at the point of the bayonet With an arm that is strong and a heart that is brave In an abbey not far from the town of Dungiven Their spirit hovers over that once much-loved soil Where there lies brave Cooey, that once-mighty chieftain Who commanded of yore from the Bann to the Foyle His statue disfigured by base alien mongrels His name oft impaired by unscrupulous foes Yet his soul shines in glory 'mid choirs of angels As his body lies moldering on the banks of the Roe Long may she prosper 'neath her sheltering mountains Carntogher, Benbradagh and surrounding hills From calamity and famine, great heaven, defend them And grant them contentment 'neath their clear purling rills