As I come down by Newry town

A band of young men saw

Well it was the first battallion of

The men of South Armagh

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.

 

Oh have you crossed the border man

and did ye come that far

did you meet the soldiers on the road did they have armoured cars

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.

 

Well I have crossed the border man

and I have traveled far

Well I met the soldiers on the road they were in two armoured cars

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.

 

If this be true their leader said

then it's here we'll make our stand

Mc Verry gave the order then with a Thompson in his hand

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.

 

This band of freedom fighters now

they numbered barely ten

they are neither man nor devil sure they came from Crossmaglen

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.

 

The paras come along the road

and into view at last

well a young man pulled the plunger out there was a mighty balst

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.

 

We opened up alog the ditch

with every gun we had

and before the ambush finished them 'we knew we'd hit them bad

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.

 

When politicians raise their hands

and act of terror say

They let us rot for 50 years and it was the only way

With a fiddy-I-O and a POW and a do and a fiddy I O I A.