Arthur McBride - Irish Anti-War Song (Lyrics)

“Arthur McBride“ is an Irish anti-war or ’anti-recruiting’ song about a violent confrontation between a recruiting sergeant, his party and two young Irish men: one of them being the song’s narrator, the other his cousin Arthur McBride. Along with other anti-recruiting songs, “Arthur McBride“ became widely popular during the First World War, when the Saxons were attempting to enforce a general conscription law in Ireland. Albeit that the song was actually set during the Napoleonic Wars or an earlier time period.