The Great Fenian Ram Song Lyrics Guitar Chords

Derek Warfield The Wolfe Tones, This songs is about the story of John Holland who was the first man to build a submarine which he used to ram British ships

[D]Near the town of Liscannor in the county of Clare
Where [G]many great [D]Irishmans [G]plans were laid [Em]bare,,,[A]
You [D]saw the wild sea's as you stood on the heath
And [G]wondered and [D]gazed at the [Bm]ocean beneath
Your [D]life of re[G]ligion was [D]never to [G]be
you [D]soon found your [G]way to the [Em]land of the free,,[A]
In the [D]state of New Jersey you perfected your plan,
And your [G]work was un[D]veiled as the [Bm]great fenian ram
Chorus:
[D]Some men for ad[G]venture have [D]planned for the [G]stars
And [D]others had [Bm]hoped to see [Em]Venus or Mars,,[A]
but you [D]worked and you labored to build your wild dream
That [G]you'd be the [D]man with the [Bm]first submarine,,[D]

Now O'Donovan Rossa Bold Breslan Devoy
Knew that Holland's invention was real and no toy
For to take on the ships of the British Navy
And all would be done now from under the sea
The English protested to Old Uncle Sam
About the mischievous boat called the Great Fenian Ram
Oh he's just an inventor we've got nothing to hide
John Bull was so angry when the Yankees replied
Chorus
Neath the waves of the ocean this craft was at home
And the Fenians [ song ] had plans for this boat for to roam
In the Passaic River, your friends were amazed
As your ship moved so silent neath the rivers and waves
An attack on the Empire was prevented by spies
And the cause was all crushed mid dissension and lies
But Uncle Sam's Navy was so proud of the boat
That the Holland's the name of the first sub afloat
Chorus
Here as I stand beside New York Bay
I can see all the ways you are remembered today
For your name is all written on tunnels and ships
On the streets of New York and on New Jersey's slips
So be proud sons of Erin, an Irishman he
John Holland the first for to voyage 'neath the sea
Leet the Statue of Liberty, a beacon shine free
For John Holland, the first for to voyage 'neath the sea.

There's a story behind every ballad and the story behind Derek Warfield's song about the Great Fenian Ram is an intriguing account of a man from County Clare, Ireland who at the age of 7 couldn't speak a word of English. John Holland spoke only Gaelige until he went to school where the English language was drilled into him. He was born in 1840 in and by 1858 was teaching English in the Christian Brothers School in Limerick. He moved to the United States in 1873 and studied to become an engineer. 

By 1875 he had drawn up his first plans for his submarine and decided to share his plans with the United States Navy but they didn't accept his drawing as they thought his ideas were unworkable. Holland was sympathetic to the Fenians and it was the Fenians who gave him the money to construct his first submarine. But The Fenians had other plans for the sub, they wanted to use the submarine to attack British shipping around the United States.By the way The Fenians were a group of Republican revolutionaries from Ireland hell bent on getting the British out of Ireland by force, there was a large group of Fenians based in America also. They had plans at one time to take over Canada, but that's another story.
 
 
Anyway John Holland made his first real workable sub in 1897 which was duel-powered, it ran on petrol when the sub was on water and used electric engines when submerged. It must have been very difficult sourcing material to build an underwater vehicle in 1897, especially since this contraption was going where no man had gone before. For example how to make the sub waterproof ? The United States Navy soon changed their minds when they seen that John Holland had successfully built an under water boat as they called it. The Navy took over and done a complete series of tests. They bought the submarine of Holland in 1900 and made another six subs. The Americans named the sub The USS Holland. The British Navy copied the design, it's ironic considering that Holland's initial attempts at building a Sub was for the intention of ramming British ships and here they were now building the same sub that was to be used to attack the British Navy. Here's the link to .What an amazing story.
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