Come out Ye Black and Tans

"Come Out Ye Black and Tans" (sometimes "Black and Tan") is an Irish rebel song referring to the Black and Tans, the British paramilitary police auxiliary force in Ireland during the 1920s. The song was written by Dominic Behan as a tribute to his father Stephen, often authorship of the song is attributed to Stephen.

Irish cultural context

The lyrics are rich with references to the history of Irish nationalism and the activities of the British Army throughout the world. The song ties Irish nationalism to the struggles of other peoples against the British Empire across the world. It therefore manages to encompass both the traditions of Irish nationalism and international socialism. These are often hostile philosophies in other countries but were united by a shared dislike for the injustices of a foreign monarchy controlling all power in Ireland. The Behan family, though one of many to hold such views, personified this dual allegiance.

While the title of the song refers to the Black and Tans of the War of Independence era, the specific context of the song is a dispute between Irish republican and loyalist neighbours in inner-city Dublin in the 1930s. Dublin is, as it always has been, the capital of Ireland. Yet, before 1922, it should be seen as a foreign city. It was the seat of foreign power even before the Norman invasion of 1169, being the centre of Viking power in Ireland and having a succession of Norse kings.

This tradition continued for centuries with Dublin always remaining the centre of The Pale an area fully under control of the Crown even when Britain had little control of the rest of Ireland. It was only with the arrival of Protestant settlers in Ulster in the Plantation of Ulster of the 17th century that the north of Ireland became the alternative seat of loyalism to Britain. Dublin continued to elect unionist politicians and voluntary service in the British Army was a popular career choice amongst working class Dubliners, both Catholic and Protestant. This tradition continued long after Irish Independence and was a major cultural difference with the rest of Ireland. The relative loyalty of Dublin is emphasised by its policing. The rest of Ireland was policed by the militarily organised Royal Irish Constabulary, a form of gendarmerie, whereas Dublin had its own police force, the Dublin Metropolitan Police which was a civilian force similar to that found in any large British city.

Enforcing this tradition was the existence of a relatively large, and now generally forgotten and disappeared, Dublin Protestant working class. It is this Loyalist working class of both religions who the composer is confronting in the song. One of the few representations of this cultural group is Bessie Burgess in the famous Sean O'Casey play "The Plough and the Stars".

Therefore the song is not only an indication of the bitterness which the Behans felt for the way they were treated by the Free State after freedom was attained but an indication that the bitternesses caused by the Irish War of Independence endured in Dublin for many years, just as those of the Irish Civil War endured in the countryside.

The actual term "Black and Tan" originated from the lack of coordination of the British army with their uniforms. The troops stationed in Killeshandra wore a mix of black uniforms and tan (khaki) uniforms.

Chorus explanation

The song begins, "I was born in Dublin street, where the loyal drums did beat and the loving English feet they walked all over us". The narrator's father, coming home from the pub, "would invite the neighbours out" with this chorus;

"Come out ye Black and Tans"
"come out and fight me like a man"
"show your wife how you won medals out in Flanders"
"tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away"
"from the green and lovely lanes in Killeshandra".

The reference to Flanders alludes to the fact that many Black and Tans were unemployed British Army veterans from the First World War. Killeshandra is a town in West Cavan likely to have been the scene of a successful IRA operation during the War of Independence. The service of the British Army in colonial wars against the Arabs and Zulus is also mocked, as the "natives" had "spears and bow and arrows" while the British "bravely faced each one, with your 16 pounder gun". The reference to "Arabs" probably refers to the counter-insurgency campaign fought by the British against Arab guerrillas in the contemporary British Mandate of Palestine. Many of the actual Black and Tans served in Palestine after their time in Ireland.

The song goes on to describe the neighbour's previous gloating at the defeats of Irish nationalism, "when you thought us well and truly persecuted", for instance, when they "slandered great Parnell". However alongside the bitterness evoked in such sentiments is a triumphalism, borne of the fact that loyalists are a small minority in post-independence Ireland. The narrator asks, "where are the sneers and jeers, that you loudly let us hear, when our leaders of '16 were executed?". The implication is that the neighbours, no longer backed by the British state, no longer have confidence to express such sentiments in public.

The song closes on a hopeful note, promising that the time is coming when, "all traitors will be cast aside before us". The narrator promises that his children will say "God Speed" [i.e. go home] , with the same song that his father used to sing to his loyalist neighbours.

Full Lyrics (traditional)

I was born on a Dublin street where the Loyal drums did beat
And the loving English feet walked all over us,
And every single night when me father'd come home tight
He'd invite the neighbors outside with this chorus:

(chorus)

Oh, come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes in Killeshandra.

Come tell us how you slew

Them ol' Arabs two by two

Like the Zulus they had spears and bows and arrows,
How you bravely faced each one
With your sixteen pounder gun
And you frightened them damn natives to their marrow.

[chorus]

Come let us hear you tell
How you slandered great Parnell,
When you thought him well and truly persecuted,
Where are the sneers and jeers
That you bravely let us hear
When our heroes of sixteen were executed.

[chorus]

The day is coming fast
And the time is here at last,
When each yeoman will be cast aside before us,
And if there be a need
Sure my kids wil sing, "Godspeed!"
With a bar or two of Stephen Behan's chorus
[chorus]

An alternate concluding verse is sometimes sung:

The day is coming fast
And it will soon be here at last
When North and South again belong to Erin
And when John Bull is gone,
We'll all join in this song,
And the trumpets of freedom will be blarin'

[chorus]

Another alternate verse:

Ahh the time is coming fast
and I think them days are near
when each English shod in heel
will run before us
and if there be a need
then our kids will say "god speed"
with a verse or two of singing this fine chorus

Another alternate verse:

Ahh the time is coming fast
and I think them days are near
when each tout and traitor
they will run before us
and if there be a need
then our kids will say "god speed"
with a bar or two of Stephen Behan's chorus

External links

* http://www.chivalry.com/cantaria/lyrics/black-tans.html
* Performance of the song on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORifieiZiP4