About Francis Boyle

1798 Irish Rebellion Study

The Belfast News Letter, in its obituary of Francis Boyle or Francis Boal as he was also known, states his age as 81 at the time of his death. His gravestone, however, states that he was 83 when he died. Boyle’s only published book of poetry, Miscellaneous Poems (1811), starts with ‘Epistle to Francis Boyle’, in which his fellow-poet, John Meharg, addresses him as ‘Frank’.

He was a member of Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church until 1798 or 1800, when the minister, Francis Pringle, was chased out of his home by a number of United Irishmen after preaching against them. As a majority of the congregation rejected Pringle’s views, Boyle and other more conservative ‘Old Light’ loyalists left and set up a breakaway congregation at Gransha in 1800. Also included in Boyle’s book of poetry was one entitled ‘Epistle to the reverend Francis Pringle’. A section of this reads:

When Satan, that arch fiend of hell,

Did tempt the people to rebel…

By this time, Pringle had moved to Scotland.

In 1808, a poem entitled ‘The Carmoney Witches’ was published in a newspaper, and the preamble states that Boyle was resident in Gransha. However, by the time his 1811 book appeared he had moved to Loughriscouse (near Ballyblack, between Newtownards and Mountstewart), expressing his sorrow at leaving in a poem entitled ‘The Author’s farewell to Grenshaw’.

Boyle’s new location lay within the area of the Londonderry estate at Mountstewart. There are indications that Boyle was settled in this safe area in the Ards by Clelland of Comber, Lord Londonderry’s notorious land agent. Rev. John Clelland, Rector of Newtownards, had led a government militia in 1798. An attempt was made on his life in 1796 and the following year he passed on information about the United Irishmen to the authorities.

Caricatures of Clelland and Lord Londonderry by Rev. Porter (executed for his part in the Rebellion) appeared in the Northern Star series entitled ‘Billy Bluff’, which portrayed Clelland as Squire Firebrand, the informing ‘agent’, and his Lordship as Lord Mountmumble.

A poignant report in the Northern Whig on 15th March 1849, at the height of the Potato Famine, records that two poverty-stricken people were brought before Downpatrick Assizes for stealing potatoes from Boyle’s land. Both were acquitted.

Interestingly, unlike most other Weaver Poets who were lifelong Presbyterians, Francis Boyle was a member of the Baptist denomination for the last forty years of his life. He is buried in Movilla Graveyard, Newtownards.

The Colonel's Retreat

by Francis Boyle

The Discussion

The Poem

Glossary

Deil – the Devil

o’er – over

croppies - A reference to the French revolutionaries who ‘cropped’ their hair as a protest against the wigs worn by the aristocracy. This style was copied by the Irish rebels.

The Colonel's Retreat

It was on Pike Sunday, near to Moneyrea,

The Colonel did first his green colours display;
He muster'd his men and away he did go,
To fight for the Union with General Munro.

The Colonel well mounted upon his grey mare,
Assumed the command of what forces were there;
To guard the cross-roads that lie near Ballygow'n,
He rode like a hero of fame and renown.

He drew his old rapier, his mare he did wheel,
Said, "go to James Haslett's as fast as the De'il -
Of hard fighting lads, haste, muster a score -
And they shall not want when their duty is o'er.

Fly you to the camp and tell General Munro,
We hold the outpost, as to Comber you go;
With three hundred brave Croppies, both valiant and stout,
If a foe does approach us the pass we'll dispute."

Upon Monday morning the Ardsmen appear,
The Colonel salutes them and gives them a cheer -
"Brave boys be courageous and front every foe,
Upon Edinavady with General Munro.

The pass-word he gave them was "Conquer or die,
It will tarnish our fame if a Croppie should fly;
Stand fast by your colours till victory's won,
Fight hard for your country as Antrim has done."

Unto the young Females he said, "My fair band,
For Hibernia's freedom here armed we stand;
Our pikes, and your laurels, will make a shew,
Upon Edinavady with General Munro."

Upon Tuesday evening the great guns did roar,
The Colonel rode off and commanded no more,
He hid his old rapier, and home he did go,
Deserted his colours and General Munro.

Upon Wednesday morning the croppies were beat;
They could stand no longer - were forced to retreat;
They were forced to retreat with their hearts full of woe,
Which brought on the sad fate of General Munro.

He fled to a house where a Judas did dwell,
Good people detest him - his name I'll not tell,
He gave him his watch and his money also,
But he proved a traitor to General Munro.

For under his roof he would not let him lie,
But straight he conducted him to a hog-stye,
While covered with straw, on the ground he lay low,
He went and informed on poor General Munro.

A strong guard was sent out, and bore him away,
From the house of that Judas that did him betray,
Even the court that condemned him, sorrow did shew,
And pitied the wretch that sold General Munro.

My friends, be admonished no more to rebel,
Its dreadful effects there's no Poet can tell,
It desolates countries, proves nations' o'erthrow,
Brings men to the scaffold like General Munro.

Literary Analysis

This poem (listed as a ‘song’ in Boyle’s Miscellaneous Poems) contains almost no Ulster-Scots (only the single word de’il – the devil), but is helpful in showing us Boyle’s attitude to the rebellion.

‘Pike Sunday’ was the day after the Battle of Saintfield, which took place on the 9th of June 1798. The pike was the weapon of choice for the rebels, as it was for those who took part in the French Revolution, which inspired the local unrest. A connection with the French Revolution is also found in the word ‘Croppies’ in the fourth verse of the poem. French revolutionaries ‘cropped’ their hair as a protest against the wigs worn by the aristocracy and this style was copied by the Irish rebels.

The mention of the ‘Union’ in the last line of the first verse refers to the rebels’ ‘union’ of Protestants and Roman Catholics against British rule. However, when the rebellion failed this unity fell apart very rapidly and the traditional religious enmities between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland quickly resurfaced. The role of sectarian violence perpetrated during and after the uprising, reignited old animosities; further entrenching distrust between the communities.

Another interesting reference in the poem is in verse six, where ‘Antrim’ is mentioned as an example to the ‘Croppies’. This is the Battle of Antrim, fought on the 7th of June 1798, a decisive defeat for the rebels and the subject of what is possibly the best known Ulster-Scots poem of James Orr (who supported the rebellion).

General Henry Munro, unlike the ‘Colonel’ of the title, was a real person and commander in chief of the rebel army at the Battle of Ballynahinch. A linen draper from Lisburn with a little military knowledge, he was not in fact betrayed, but rather fled alone from the battle, taking refuge in a potato furrow about six miles from the town. He was discovered and taken captive to Lisburn, along with a young man formerly employed by the Northern Star newspaper, which had printed many Ulster-Scots poems by those who supported the rebellion. Munro was tried by court martial and executed opposite his own house – a ‘sad fate’ indeed.