APPENDIX D FIANNA EIREANN THIS Boy Scout organisation existed purely as a seditious training-ground. Countess Marckievicz was the President and showed marked interest in the lads, if not in their welfare. The following gem of poesy is taken from Latest Ballads and Leaflets of Sinn Fein, a work which bears no publisher's imprint. THE BRAVE BOY SCOUT. (Air-The Minstrel Boy.) The brave Boy Scout to the battle is gone, And his rifle slung behind him; "I Please God no ill shall harm me; The Boy Scout fell, but he rose again Nor wounds nor woe, nor Frongoch's chain And when he comes to manhood's years, He'll lead the van of the Volunteers, BOYS! IRELAND IS CALLING YOU! Ireland wants your help in the Ranks of FIANNA EIREANN The only Organisation which trains boys on Irish-Ireland lines, without distinction of creed, class or politics. BOYS! Join the young army of Ireland which has already given so many martyrs to the cause of Irish Independence and help to win the Crown of Freedom for your Motherland. Give your name to any Fianna Officer and join the nearest Sluagh TO-DAY. If there is not a Sluagh in your district, start one immediately, and affiliate with Headquarters. APPENDIX E WHITE BOys "In the year 1759, and under the administration of the Duke of Bedford, an alarming spirit of insurgency appeared in the South of Ireland, which manifested itself by numerous and frequent risings of the lower class of Catholics dressed in white uniforms, whence they were denominated White Boys; but they were encouraged and often headed by persons of their own persuasion of some consideration. They were armed with guns, swords and pistols, of which they plundered Protestants, and they marched through the country in military array, preceded by music of bagpipes or the sounding of horns. In their nocturnal perambulations they enlisted or pressed into their service every person of their own religion who was capable of serving them, and bound them by oaths of secrecy, fidelity and obedience to their officers. Those officers were bound by oaths of allegiance to the French King, and Prince Charles the Pretender, which appeared by the confession and information of several of the insurgents, some of whom were convicted of high treason and various other crimes. 'The pretext they made use of for rising and assembling was to redress the following grievances : The illegal enclosure of commons, the extortion of tithe proctors and the exorbitant fees exacted by their own clergy-though it appeared they were deeply concerned in encouraging and fomenting them in the commission of outrages." Musgrave's Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 36. The last paragraph suggests continuance of the traditional Garduña policy at this date. APPENDIX F THE following curse on the members of the Royal Irish Constabulary was circulated by Sinn Feiners to Irish Protestants in Ulster who were thought to be in sympathy with Sinn Fein politicians. HACELDAMA (The Field of Blood) They have sold for silver the flesh and blood of their people. For money their hands are dipped in the blood of their people. What of the people? Shall they grasp the hand of Cain? They are the eyes and ears of the enemy. Let those eyes and those ears know no friendship. Let these men (?) be outcasts in their own land. See you that there are none who shall associate with them. See you that those who do are treated likewise. The blood of our martyrs shall be on them and on their children's children, and they shall curse the mothers that bring them forth. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain.'-Genesis, Chap. V. (Copy this out four times and send it to four of your friends.) Seditious documents of a supposedly Protestant nature are extremely rare, and all attempts to convert the North to an acceptance of Sinn Fein failed, although here and there occurred instances in the South where Protestants were Sinn Feiners in politics. |