St. Patrick in America

As printed in the Eastern Argus on September 23, 1813:

Last Patrick’s day, was as dark as the night;
For the sun never shined on Hibernia’s sod
Brother John grin’d a smile to behold the sad sight,
When Erin go Bragh went in mourning,
The Harp, the Shamrock, and the Shillaly
Were stolen away–with the Wreath & the Rod,
Poor Shellah kept tugging,
Whilst John Bull kept hugging,
For her butter & beef, like a coward and thief,
With his blood hounds of war, the outcasts from God,
Who hang burn and destroy
Man, woman and boy–
On Patrick’s Day in the Morning.

Oh! St. Patrick, where were you on that great occasion?
You that used to drive Reptiles away from the land;
Arrah why did you suffer the British invasion?
Why were they not drowned in returning?–
Was it they that broke your Pastoral Crook,
And snatched all the power from your Holy Wand?
Or have you been banished,
Since Ireland has vanished?–
In America list, then, & give us your fist,
For this is the country for which we will stand,
And fiercely oppose
Either traitors or foes,
Every Patrick’s Day in the Morning.

 And now my dear friends, since our saint has come over,
To see how we look round our jolly full bowls,
Let us welcome him here, where we all live in clover,
The malice of Kings ever scorning,
With peace and health still smiling around us,
And plenty to cherish our generous souls
Now we all plainly see
That America’s free–
Republicans true Sir,
As ever you knew Sir,
From Ohio’s Banks to where Old Ocean rolls
Then to Washington still
Our glasses let’s fill,
Every Patrick’s Day, Night and Morning.

About the Author

Mary Bowden is a researcher working at the Texas Collections Deposit Library at the University of Texas. A little-known but invaluable treasure of U.S. history and the history of American journalism is archived in the collection of bound United States’ Newspapers at the University of Texas at Austin. The collection began more than a century ago and has been stored in recent years in the Texas Collections Deposit Library on the campus of the University of Texas. The sizeable archive is currently in the early stages of being digitized before being moved to a more climate-controlled environment at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus of the University, on the north side of Austin.