From the recording Never Look Back
My Mum used to tell us how her father hid the rebel boys who were on the run from the Black and Tans in 1920. They lived in a remote farmhouse up against the Cork and Kerry mountains. Her mother lived in fear that someone would give him away and he would be shot.
Lyrics
The Mountains by the Sea
Capo on 2nd fret (unless in Bb – 1st fret) NB B chord is without c#
Female singer in black; male in red. NB Both on choruses.
B F#m B
1. Oh Father dear the wind is howling through the mountains clear
B E B
And my heart is pounding, pounding with fear
B F#m E
I see dark shadows on the road from the town
B F#m E B
And our children weeping if these young men are found.
2. Oh Mother dear don’t worry, they’ll not find them here
These wild hills will hide the fleet-footed deer
The Tans’ dark shadows will not darken home
And our children can play with our secret unknown.
F#m D C#m A
Chorus Fly like the wind to the mountains by the sea
F#m D C#m F# / / / F#m
Fly boys fly for Ireland must be free.
3. I hear the dead drum beating and the sound of marching feet
And our children go hungry so these young men can eat
Need only a whisper to take you away
Then our children will starve while they are at play.
4. Sure there’s whispers a-plenty on the breath of the wind
But I know these hills like the back of my hand
And I would choke with shame on the food I had grown
If I did not feed these young men who make this land our own.
Chorus
7. Oh father dear please hurry they must not find you here
These wild hills will hide you like the fleet-footed deer
That our children go hungry I never will own
And I’ll sit here weeping until you return.
Chorus
NB Verses 5 and 6 omitted.
Copyright Kevin O'Regan 2010