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When the reward for loyal deeds in
obloquy and scorn,
And men in power treat us as slaves, who have been freemen born,
When faith and freedom are assailed, for which true men would die,
Two hundred thousand Orangemen must know the reason why.
Should justice to oppression yield,
and self-defence be crime,
And force deprive us of the rights blood-won in olden time;
Should falsehood, fraud, and perjury be lifted up on high,
Two hundred thousand Orangemen must know the reason why.
If Bills of Rights, and Statute Laws,
are to be trampled down,
And if the Pope should be allowed to share the British Crown,
If glorious deeds and memories in dust and shame shall lie,
Two hundred thousand Orangemen must know the reason why.
Oh! if the noble martyr's blood for
us was shed in vain,
And Rome her power in these free Isles, through traitors, should regain,
If her black flag exultingly o'er freemen's heads shall fly,
Two hundred thousand Orangemen must know the reason why.
If hearth, and home, and fatherland,
be placed beneath the sway,
Of that false, alien Church, whose joy has been to burn the slay;
If justice, truth, and righteousness be banished for a lie,
Two hundred thousand Orangemen must know the reason why.
If chains for freedom shall be forged,
if Englands throne must fall.
If any part of our loved Isles the Pope shall have in thrall,
If we must wear the priestly yoke, with bent neck and sunken eye,
Two hundred thousand Orangemen must the reason why.
If we must live mean-hearted slaves,
or, as brave Briton's die,
Let your bright banner once again wave in the azure sky.
And "put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry"
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Two hundred thousand Orangemen WILL know the reason why.
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