Mick Tunney sang many patriotic songs which makes his singing of this one a little surprising. There are many songs in the Irish tradition about men ‘taking the Saxon shilling’, joining the British army and finding themselves on diverse imperial adventures. I have written elsewhere: ‘The Boys of the Emerald Isle, which circulated in broadsheet format, is written from the point of view of Irishmen serving in the armies of the British Empire against foreign enemies, from defeating Napoleon in 1815 to the Crimean War of the 1860s. It may allude to anti-Irish sentiments but it presumes a certain level of comfort with service to the British crown and its overseas military adventures’ (liner notes, The Immigrant).

*The notes for songs 28-42, if not covered by earlier entries, have been compiled by John Tunney.