Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BRENNAN ON THE MOOR (1), by                    
First Line: It's of a famous highway robber a story I will tell
Last Line: A brave undaunted robber bold was brennan on the moor
Subject(s): Crimes & Criminals


It's of a famous highway robber a story I will tell,
His name was Willie Brennan and in Ireland he did dwell,
And on the Kilworth mountains he commenced his wild career,
And many a wealthy gentleman before him shook with fear.
Brennan on the Moor, Brennan on the Moor,
A brave undaunted robber bold was Brennan on the Moor.
A brace of loaded pistols he carried night and day,
He never robbed a poor man upon the king's highway,
But what he'd taken from the rich, like Turpin and Black Bess,
He always did divide it with the widow in distress.
One night he robbed a packman by the name of Pedlar Bawn,
They travelled on together till day began to dawn.
The pedlar seeing his money gone, likewise his watch and chain,
He at once encountered Brennan and he robbed him back again.
One day upon the highway, as Willie he went down,
He met the Mayor of Cashel a mile outside the town.
The Mayor he knew his features. "I think, young man,' said he,
"Your name is Willie Brennan, you must come along with me.'
As Brennan's wife had gone to town, provisions for to buy,
And when she saw her Willie she began to weep and cry.
He says, "Give me that tenpenny.' As soon as Willie spoke,
She handed him a blunderbuss from underneath her cloak.
Then with his loaded blunderbuss, the truth I will unfold,
He made the Mayor to tremble, and robbed him of his gold.
One hundred pounds was offered for his apprehension there,
So he with horse and saddle to the mountains did repair.
Then Brennan being an outlaw upon the mountains high,
When cavalry and infantry to take him they did try,
He laughed at them with scorn, until at length, 'tis said,
By a false-hearted young man he basely was betrayed.
In the country of Tipperary, in a place they call Clonmore,
Willie Brennan and his comrade that day did suffer sore.
He lay amongst the fern which was thick upon the field,
And nine deep wounds he did receive before that he did yield.
When Brennan and his comrade found that they were betrayed,
They with the mounted cavalry a noble battle made.
He lost his foremost finger, which was shot off by a ball,
So Brennan and his comrade they were taken after all.
So they were taken prisoners, in irons they were bound,
And both conveyed to Clonmel jail, strong walls did them surround.
They were tried and there found guilty, the judge made this reply,
"For robbing on the king's highway you're both condemned to die.'
Farewell unto my dear wife and to my children three,
Likewise my aged father, he may shed tears for me,
And to my loving mother, who tore her locks and cried,
Saying, "I wish, my Willie Brennan, in your cradle you had died.'
Brennan on the Moor, Brennan on the Moor,
A brave undaunted robber bold was Brennan on the Moor.






Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net