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Cremona
– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Grenadiers of Austria are proper men and tall;The Grenadiers of Austria have scaled the city wall;
They have marched from far away
Ere the dawning of the day,
And the morning saw them masters of Cremona.
There's not a man to whisper, there's not a horse to neigh;
Of the footmen of Lorraine and the riders of Dupres,
They have crept up every street,
In the market-place they meet,
They are holding every vantage in Cremona.
The Marshal Villeroy he has started from his bed;
The Marshal Villeroy has no wig upon his head;
'I have lost my men!' quoth he,
'And my men they have lost me,
And I sorely fear we both have lost Cremona.'
Prince Eugene of Austria is in the market-place;
Prince Eugene of Austria has smiles upon his face;
Says he, 'Our work is done,
For the Citadel is won,
And the black and yellow flag flies o'er Cremona.'
Major Dan O'Mahony is in the barrack square,
And just six hundred Irish lads are waiting for him there;
Says he, 'Come in your shirt,
And you won't take any hurt,
For the morning air is pleasant in Cremona.'
Major Dan O'Mahony is at the barrack gate,
And just six hundred Irish lads will neither stay nor wait;
There's Dillon and there's Burke,
And there'll be some bloody work
Ere the Kaiserlics shall boast they hold Cremona.
Major Dan O'Mahony has reached the river fort,
And just six hundred Irish lads are joining in the sport;
'Come, take a hand!' says he,
'And if you will stand by me,
Then it's glory to the man who takes Cremona!'
Prince Eugene of Austria has frowns upon his face,
And loud he calls his Galloper of Irish blood and race:
'MacDonnell, ride, I pray,
To your countrymen, and say
That only they are left in all Cremona!'
MacDonnell he has reined his mare beside the river dyke,
And he has tied the parley flag upon a sergeant's pike;
Six companies were there
From Limerick and Clare,
The last of all the guardians of Cremona.
'Now, Major Dan O'Mahony, give up the river gate,
Or, Major Dan O'Mahony, you'll find it is too late;
For when I gallop back
'Tis the signal for attack,
And no quarter for the Irish in Cremona!'
And Major Dan he laughed: 'Faith, if what you say be true,
And if they will not come until they hear again from you,
Then there will be no attack,
For you're never going back,
And we'll keep you snug and safely in Cremona.'
All the weary day the German stormers came,
All the weary day they were faced by fire and flame,
They have filled the ditch with dead,
And the river's running red;
But they cannot win the gateway of Cremona.
All the weary day, again, again, again,
The horsemen of Dupres and the footmen of Lorraine,
Taafe and Herberstein,
And the riders of the Rhine;
It's a mighty price they're paying for Cremona.
Time and time they came with the deep-mouthed German roar,
Time and time they broke like the wave upon the shore;
For better men were there
From Limerick and Clare,
And who will take the gateway of Cremona?
Prince Eugene has watched, and he gnaws his nether lip;
Prince Eugene has cursed as he saw his chances slip:
'Call off! Call off!' he cried,
'It is nearing eventide,
And I fear our work is finished in Cremona.'
Says Wauchop to McAulliffe, 'Their fire is growing slack.'
Says Major Dan O'Mahony, 'It is their last attack;
But who will stop the game
While there's light to play the same,
And to walk a short way with them from Cremona?'
And so they snarl behind them, and beg them turn and come,
They have taken Neuberg's standard, they have taken Diak's drum;
And along the winding Po,
Beard on shoulder, stern and slow
The Kaiserlics are riding from Cremona.
Just two hundred Irish lads are shouting on the wall;
Four hundred more are lying who can hear no slogan call;
But what's the odds of that,
For it's all the same to Pat
If he pays his debt in Dublin or Cremona.
Says General de Vaudray, 'You've done a soldier's work!
And every tongue in France shall talk of Dillon and of Burke!
Ask what you will this day,
And be it what it may,
It is granted to the heroes of Cremona.'
'Why, then,' says Dan O'Mahony, 'one favour we entreat,
We were called a little early, and our toilet's not complete.
We've no quarrel with the shirt,
But the breeches wouldn't hurt,
For the evening air is chilly in Cremona.'
Irish Herald to the British ‘Jacobite’ Court in Exile
A grant of arms by James Terry, Athlone Pursuivant, made to Daniel O'Donnell at the Jacobite court in exile at St Germain-en-Laye in France. 5 April 1709
It was after the defeat of the Irish Clans and their Spanish allies at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601-02 and the subsequent ‘Flight of the Earls’ in 1607 that the Irish began to establish themselves abroad in large numbers. (not including the Irish religious communities who established universities, Irish colleges, and centres of learning throughout Europe, thus ending the period known to history as the ‘Dark Ages’)
The Gaelic aristocracy and ‘Old English’ (Catholic) gentry of Ireland scattered throughout the Catholic countries in Europe and took military service with the major continental powers following the widespread confiscation of their lands, and the introduction of ‘penal laws’ against Catholics in Ireland, that followed the ‘nine years war’ (1594 to 1603) of the O’Neills and the O’Donnells (and their supporters from other clans) against the colonising forces of Queen Elizabeth I; plus the ‘Irish Confederate’ war (1641 to 1649) in support of King Charles I against Cromwell and the English Parliament; and then yet another war (1689 – 1691) in support of Britain’s Catholic King James II against Parliament’s Protestant William of Orange and the subsequent Treaty of Limerick.
Many of the descendants of these émigrés are still to be found today in the countries in which their ancestors settled.
A small selection of the more well known Irish ‘Wild Geese’ family names in the empires of Spain and Portugal include O’Neill, Terry, Garvey, O’Murphy, O’Byrne, Butler, O’Kelly,
O'Reilly, O’Higgin, Mackenna, O’Connor, O'Donahue, Lynch, O’Sullivan, O'Ryan, FitzGerald, Brenan, Tully, MacCarthy, Magennis, Dempsy, Taffe, MacAuliffe, Comerford, Gage, Coglan, Dungan, Brown, MacDonald, Burke, Slattery, O’Daly, O’Dunn, Howard, Nugent, Delaney, O’Donovan, Preston, and O’Donnell.In France a cursory examination of their 17th and 18th century history shows lots more well known ‘Wild Geese’ family names; such as O’Mahony, Butler, Walsh, Boyd, O’Byrne, Sheldon, Lally, FitzGerald, MacCarthy, Lawton, O’Neill, Dillon, O’Brien, MacMahon, Barton, Doyle, Jenning, Galwey, de Plunkett, O’Sullivan, Wall, Conway, Preston, Corbet, Sheridan, Kelly, MacElligot, Kennedy, Creagh, MacDonagh, O’Hogan, O’Callaghan, O’Mahoney, O’Gara, O’Carroll, O’Brien, MacDonnell, and Hennessy.
Descendants of famous Irish ‘Wild Geese’ families may also still be found in Germany, such as von Butler - and in the empire of Austria-Hungary a small selection of well known Irish émigré families include: Lacey; McGuire; O’Kelly; von Nugent; O’Neillan; Nolan; O’Donnell; McDonnell; O’Flanagan; O’Connor; O’Connell; O’Gilvy; von Plunkett; von Purcell; Wallis; Forbes; FitzGerald; von Brady; von Barry; Butler; McEligot; and von Browne.
Russia also had its share of famous ‘Wild Geese’ families, including amongst many others: Baillie; Delap; Butler; and de Lacy.
After the defeat of James II of England (also known as James VI of Scotland) by his Protestant son-in-law, William of Orange, at the Battle of the Boyne
(1 July 1690), James II fled to France - only three days after the loss. The Jacobite court followed him into exile at St. Germain, France – while the Irish Jacobite army fought on in numerous battles and sieges against the odds for another year.James Terry was an Irish Officer of arms who remained faithful to King James II of Britain after his escape to France in 1690.
James Terry had been serving as Athlone Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary at the Irish Office of Arms in Dublin, and took his seal of office and his heraldic records with him to France.
As James II still considered himself King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he needed a herald with him to handle matters of heraldry and state ceremonial. In 1690, he appointed Terry to the post of Athlone Herald.
(‘coats of arms’ - heraldic arms – and attested pedigrees were necessary as proofs of gentility for anyone seeking a commission as an officer in a European army of the time.)
It is interesting to consider that during the exile in France, Terry was in communication with English and Scottish heralds when it became necessary to verify armorial records and genealogies. In spite of the dispute between the royals that employed them, the heralds still maintained a collegial working relationship. Terry continued granting of heraldic arms to the members of the Jacobite Irish Diaspora (and to the Jacobite English and Scots in exile) until his death in 1725. After his passing, the Irish abroad were obliged to apply to the office of ‘Ulster King of Arms’ in English-occupied Dublin for grants of arms.
The tradition of the Irish abroad seeking grants of arms from the Chief Herald of Ireland continues to the present day. Responding to this demand is an expression of the nation's "special affinity with those of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage". (Article 2, Constitution of Ireland)
Gentlemen who can prove their descent from Ireland (e.g. with copies of birth, marriage, and/ or death certificates of their Irish ancestors) may still petition the Chief Herald of Ireland for a grant of arms. (Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland, 2 Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland)