Lyrics Sam Jenkins - Damien Dempsey

Sam Jenkins

My name it is Sam Jenkins
I come from old Whittington Hill
My people bow their heads down
To the lord of the manor still
I grew up mean and hungry
Dirty and poor and sick
I tried my for not to steal
To afraid of the VAn Diemon ships
Well, the only road to money
It was the road to the army gates
I took that road in '45
With a gang of my Staffordshire mates
We were shipped across to Ireland
Some rebellions for to quell
Stationed north of Galway
In a landscape that mirrored hell
When we sailed into Galway
Before my hair got dry
I will never forget the skeletons
With a crazed look in their eyes
And their little children wailing
As hunger ate them alive
When I realized what I was doing there
With the shame I nearly died
The food removal regiments
We were there to guard the food
Being shipped each day to England
While the starving they were subdued
They said we needed the food more
For our hungry boys abroad
And the Irish apes who farmed it
They weren’t men in the eyes of the Lord
My dear friend Billy Cooper
He couldn’t console himself
From a cherry tree in the backfield
He was hanging by his belt
In the 41st foot regiment
Just north of Galway town
I felt myself the servant
Of a devil in a crown
I disobeyed an order
I refused to shoot a man
Now stripped of my gun and uniform
I am bound for Van Diemons land
You rogues who rule Britannia
May you burn in hell for good
Us poor we do your dirty work
Then you dine on our flesh and blood
All the lies, all of our lives
All the pain, abuse and shame
Tell the truth to the youth
And forgive, but never forget
Forgive, but never forget
All the lies, all of our lives
All the pain, tears like rain
Tell the truth to the youth
And forgive, but never forget
Forgive, but never forget