Nova Scotia Ballads Come All You British Heroes Anonymous Collected by M. M. MacOdrum Encoded by James Rothwell Dalhousie University Archives Dalhousie University Archives Halifax, NS
6225 University Avenue PO Box 15000 Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada B3H 4R2 URL:http://libraries.dal.ca/collection/archives.html
2014-10-16

Nova Scotia Ballads collected by M. M. MacOdrum is a manuscript of 217 typed pages held by the Dalhousie University Archives. (Acc. Number 26 - 75. Dal MS 2 234.)

See also: http://archive.org/stream/childreninwood00harviala/childreninwood00harviala_djvu.txt

 Come All You British Heroes Other versions of this ballad have the title of 'Noble Lads of Canada', and include further stanzas. See: http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiNOBLELAD.html (1) Come all you British heroes This ballad provides a re-telling of the Battle of Plattsburgh during the War of 1812, which occurred from November 6th to 11th, 1814. The battle marked the end of the final invasion of the northern United States by British forces. A combined land and naval assault under the command of British General Sir George Prévost (land forces) and Captain George Downie (naval squadron) attacked the town of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain. The United States naval forces under the command of Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough defeated the British naval squadron, and the British ground forces retreated soon after under pressure from United States troops led by Brigadier General Alexander Macomb. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plattsburgh , I pray you lend your ears . Draw up your British forces, And then your volunteers. We're going to fight the Yankee 'Yankee' is a colloquial name for American. boys By water and by land, Chorus - And we will never return til we conquer sword in hand. We're the noble lads of Canada Come to arms, boys, come. (2) O now the time has come my boys , To cross the Yankee's line. We remember they were rebels once , And conquered John Burgoyne John Burgoyne was a British military officer whose surrender to United States troops during the American Revolutionary War helped galvanize France's entry into the conflict. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burgoyne#Early_American_War_of_Independence. We'll subdue these mighty democrats And pull their dwellings down, And we'll have the States'States' is a colloquial name for the United States. inhabitated With subjects to the Crown'Crown' is a colloquial name for the British Empire.. Cho. (3) We've as choice a British army As ever crossed the seas. We'll burn both town and city, And with smoke becloud the skies. We'll subdue the old green mountain, boys, Their WashingtonRefers to General and later President George Washington. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington is gone. And we'll play them Yankee Doodle As the Yankees did Burgoyne. Cho. (4) Now we've reached the Plattsburgh banks, my boys, And here we'll make our stand, Until we take the Yankee fleet MacDonald hath command; We've the "Growler" USS Growler was a sloop captured by the Royal Navy prior to the Battle of Plattsburgh, and renamed HMS Chubb. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Growler_%281812_sloop%29 and the "Eagle"HMS Eagle was an American gunboat captured by the Royal Navy prior to the Battle of Plattsburg. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Eagle That from SmithRefers to Lieutenant Sidney Smith, commander of the USS Growler prior to its capture by the Royal navy. See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Growler_%281812_sloop%29 we took away, And we'll have their noble fleet That lies anchored in the bay. Cho.

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