The Memory of the Dead (Who Fears to Speak of ’98)
The Memory of the Dead (Who Fears to Speak of ’98) Lyrics
Who blushes at the name?
When cowards mock the patriot's fate
Who hangs his head for shame?
He's all a knave or half a slave
Who slights his country thus,
But a true man, like you, man,
Will fill your glass with us.
We drink the memory of the brave,
The faithful and the few,
Some lie far off beyond the wave,
Some sleep in Ireland too;
All, all are gone, but still lives on
The fame of those who died,
All true men, like you, men,
Remember them with pride.
Some on the shores of distant lands
Their weary hearts have laid,
And by the stranger's heedless hands
Their lonely graves were made;
But though their clay be far away,
Beyond the Atlantic foam,
In true men, like you, men,
Their spirit's still at home.
Among their own they rest;
And that same land that gave them birth
Has caught them to her breast;
And we will pray that from their clay
Full many a race may start
Of true men, like you, men,
To play as brave a part.
They rose in dark and evil days
To free their native land
And kindled then a living blaze
That nothing shall withstand;
Alas, that might should conquer right,
They fell and passed away
But true men, like you, men,
Are plenty here today.
Then here's their memory, let it be
To us a guiding light
To cheer our fight for liberty
And teach us to unite!
Though good and ill be Ireland's still,
Though sad as theirs your fate,
Yet true men, be you, men,
Like those of 'Ninety-eight.
About
In March 1843 Ingram wrote The Memory of the Dead (better known as Who Fears to Speak of ‘98’; or simply ‘Ninety Eight’), in honour of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen. He was stirred by the lack of regard shown for the Irish rebels of ‘98 by the contemporary nationalist movement, led by Daniel O'Connell.
The poem was published anonymously on 1 April 1843 in Thomas Davis’s The Nation Newspaper. Despite this poem Ingram showed no nationalist sympathies at any time, maintaining that Ireland was not ready for self-government. “The Memory of the Dead was my only contribution to the Nation ”, commented Ingram later. Nevertheless, before he died, Ingram made a manuscript copy of Ninety Eight, proclaiming that he would always defend brave men who opposed tyranny.
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