Come[D] listen all me true men to[G] my simple[D] rhyme
For it tells of a joung man cut[A] off in his prime
A[D] soldier and a statesman who[G] laid down the[D] lay
And who died by the roadside in[A] Lone Beal Na[D] Bla
When barley sixteen to England crossed ore
For to work as a boy in a government store
But the volunteers call he could not disobey
So he came back to Dublin to join in the fray
[Chorus]
At[A] easter nineteen sixteen when[D] Pearse called them[A] out
The men from the Dublin[E] battalion roved[A] out
And[D] in the post office they[G] nobley did[D] show
How a handful of heros could[A] outfight the[D] foe
To Stafford and jails transported they were
As prisoners of England they soon made a stir
Released before Christmas and home once again
He branded old comrades together to train
Dail Eireann assembled our rights to proclame
Suppressed by the Englih you'd think it a shame
How Ireland's best and bravest were harried and torn
From the arms of their loved ones and children new born
[Repeat chorus]
For years Mick eluded their soldiers and spies
For he was the master of clever disguise
With the Custom house blazing she found t'was no use
And soon mother England had asked for a truce
Oh when will the young men a sad lesson spurn
That brother on brother they never should turn
Alas that a split in our ranks 'ere we saw
Mick Collins stretched lifeless in lone Beal na Bla
[Repeat chorus]
Oh when will old Ireland be seeking in vain
Ere we find a new leader to match the man slane
A true son of Grainne his name lone will shine
O gallant Mick Collins cut off in his prime
