This wonderful anti-war song, covered by Bob Dylan among others, tells of two young men, one of whom was Arthur McBride, who encounter a British recruiting Sergeant and his drummer boy in Napoleonic times in Ireland. The two Irishmen dispute the proposed merits of joining the British army only to be sent to the continent to be killed. They succeed in teaching the soldiers some good manners by beating the unholy shit out of them.

Paul Brady performs this classic in the manner of the archetypal folk singer. Although Rebel Voice does not always agree with Brady’s political positioning, there is no doubting his exceptional musical abilities.

And so, to conclude and to finish disputes
We obligingly asked if they wanted recruits
For we were the lads who would give them hard clouts
And bid them look sharp in the mornin’

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