The Benedy Glen



Through Benedy Glen oft at eve have I wandered

With a heart that is lighter than the dew of the morn

Her heather-clad mountains and clear crystal fountains

Delightful to view by the light of the dawn



I see her green hills and swift-running streamlets

Eternally flowing right on to the sea

By her side I lie down on a bank of blue violets

And its murmuring and gurgling are music to me



In far foreign lands oft do her sons wander

By Niagara Falls or the Prairie Grand

Where nature is seen both majestic and savage

But their hearts are at home in their dear native land



They long to return to the banks of the Lena

The Roe and its branches on every side

Where there lies brave Cooey, that once-mighty chieftain

Who once 'gainst the Saxon defended with pride



Her daughters are fair and her sons, they are gallant

They scorn the tyrant, the serf or the slave

Their rights they maintain at the point of the bayonet

With an arm that is strong and a heart that is brave



In an abbey not far from the town of Dungiven

Their spirit hovers over that once much-loved soil

Where there lies brave Cooey, that once-mighty chieftain

Who commanded of yore from the Bann to the Foyle



His statue disfigured by base alien mongrels

His name oft impaired by unscrupulous foes

Yet his soul shines in glory 'mid choirs of angels

As his body lies moldering on the banks of the Roe



Long may she prosper 'neath her sheltering mountains

Carntogher, Benbradagh and surrounding hills

From calamity and famine, great heaven, defend them

And grant them contentment 'neath their clear purling rills