The Saxon Shilling Lyrics
The DublinersMusic Video
The Saxon Shilling
Hark a marshall sound is heard
The march of soldiers fife and drumming
Eyes are start and hearts are stood
For bold recruits the brave are coming
Ribbons flaunting feathers gay
The sound and sights are surely thrilling
Dazzle village youths the day
Who're proud to take the Saxon Shilling
Peace of spirits will not bow
And peace to parish tyrants longer
Ye who wear the villian brow
And ye who pine and hope asunder
Fools without the brave man's face
Are slaves and starving who are willing
To sell themselves to shame and death
Except the fabled Saxon Shilling
Go to find the crime and toil
That doom to which such guilt is hurried
Go to leave on Indian soil your bones
To breach accursed and buried
Go to crush the just and brave
Whose wrongs with wrath the world are filling
Go to slay each by the slave or
Spurn the blasted Saxon Shilling
Irish hearts why should you bleed
To swell the tide of British glory
Aiding their spots in their needs
Whose chains are green so often gory
None say those who wish to see
The noblest killed the meanest killing
And the true hearts of the risen free
Will take again the Saxon Shilling
Irish youths reserve your strength
Until an hour of glorious duty
When freedom smile shall cheer at length
The land of bravery and beauty
Bribes and threats so heed no more
Let not but justice make you willing
To leave your own dear Ireland shore
For those to send as Saxon Shilling
Song Details
🎶 Songwriter: K. T. Buggy
📅 Date: 1840's
📝 Song Brief:
A forceful criticism of Irishmen who enlisted in the British Army. The song condemns the enlistment payment — the “Saxon Shilling” — as a betrayal of Irish identity, dignity, and freedom. Through vivid imagery of recruiters, foreign wars, and the suffering of oppressed peoples abroad, the song urges Irish youths to reject British service and save their strength for Ireland’s own future. It stands firmly within the tradition of anti‑recruiting and anti‑war songs, calling for loyalty to homeland over empire.
The following is an excerpt from WordReference.com in relation to the Saxon Shilling:
To "take the King's Shilling" in England was to enlist as a soldier in the army, once upon a time. The shilling, equivalent to £0.05 in modern currency, was an inducement to enlist.📖 Glossary:
In Ireland, of course, the English King was not recognised/acknowledged. So when an Irish man enlisted in the English Army, he was said to have taken the Saxon Shilling...
In the poem given, it is clear that the writer considers anyone who accepted the money was a traitor and bad person.
- Saxons
The Anglo‑Saxons — early medieval Germanic peoples who settled in England. In Irish nationalist writing, “Saxon” became a shorthand term for the English or the British state. - Shilling
A former British monetary unit worth one‑twentieth of a pound (12 pence). It was used in Ireland until decimalisation in 1971. In the song, the “Saxon Shilling” refers to the enlistment payment given to Irish recruits joining the British Army. - asunder — To break or tear into parts or pieces; apart.
- spurn — To reject with contempt or disdain.
- Riband — A ribbon, especially one awarded as a mark of honour or achievement.
- starveling — A person who is starving or has been reduced to hunger through neglect or hardship.
🍀 Genre: Anti-recruiting, anti-war
👥 Covers: Sean Tyrrell, FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums (instrumental).
🎤 Featured Artists: The Dubliners
💿 Album At Home With The Dubliners
Released: 1969
Country: Ireland
Format: 12" Vinyl
Label: Tribune
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