So my song for you this evening,
it's not to make you sad
Nor for adding to the sorrows
of our troubled northern land
But lately I've been thinking
and it just won't leave my mind
I'll tell you of two friends
of mine who were both good friends of mine
Isaac Scott from Banagh, he
lived just across the fields
A great man for the music,
the dancing and the reels
McDonald came from South
Armagh to court young Alice fair
And we often met on the Ryan
Road and laughter filled the air
There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people
ran together
Now Isaac he was Protestant
and Sean was Catholic born
But it never made a difference,
for the friendship it was strong
And sometimes in the evening
when we heard the sound of drums
We said it won't divide us,
we always will be one
For the ground our fathers
plowed in, the soil it is the same
And the places where we say
our prayers have just got different names
We talked about the friends
who'd died and hoped there'd be no more
It was little then we realized
the tragedy in store
There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people
ran together
It was on a Sunday morning
when the awful news came round
Another killing had been
done just outside Newry Town
We knew that Isaac danced
up there, we knew he liked the band
But when we heard that he
was dead we just could not understand
We gathered round the graveside
on a cold and rainy day
The minister he closed his
eyes and for no revenge he prayed
And all of us who knew him
from along the Ryan Road
We bowed our heads and said
a prayer for the resting of his soul
There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people
ran together
Now fear it filled the countryside
there was fear in every home
When late at night a car
came prowling round the Ryan Road
A Catholic would be killed
tonight to even up the score
But, oh God, it's young McDonald
they've taken from the door
Isaac was my friend! he cried,
he begged them with his tears
But centuries of hatred have
ears that do not hear
An eye for an eye, it was
all that filled their minds
And another eye for another
eye till everyone is blind
There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people
ran together
So my song for you this evening,
it's not to make you sad
Nor for adding to the sorrows
of our troubled northern land
But lately I've been thinking
and it just won't leave my mind
I'll tell you of two friends
of mine who were both good friends of mine
Now I don't know where the
moral is or where this song should end
But I wonder just how many
wars are fought between good friends
And those who give the orders
are not the ones to die
It's Scott and McDonald and
the likes of you and I
There were roses, roses
There were roses
And the tears of a people
ran together
There were roses, roses
There were roses....
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