D
[Verse 1]
D
'Twas on Good Friday morning
G D
All in the month of May
D
A German ship was signalling
C G A
Beyond out in the bay
C D
We've twenty thousand rifles
C G A
All ready for to land
D
But no answering signal did come from
G D
The lonely Banna Strand
[Verse 2]
D
No signal answers from the shore
G D
Sir Roger sadly said
D
No comrades here to meet me
C G A
Alas, they must be dead
C D
But I must do my duty
C G A
And at once I mean to land
D
So in a small boat pulled ashore
G D
On the lonely Banna Strand
[Verse 3]
D
Now, the RIC were hunting for
G D
Sir Roger high and low
D
They found him at McKenna's Fort
C G A
Said they, "You are our foe"
C D
Said he, "I'm Roger Casement
C G A
I came to my native land
D
I mean to free my countrymen
G D
On the lonely Banna Strand"
[Verse 4]
D
They took Sir Roger prisoner
G D
And sailed for London Town
D
And in the Tower they laid him
C G A
A traitor to the Crown
C D
Said he, "I am no traitor"
C G A
But his trial he had to stand
D
For bringing German rifles to
G D
The lonely Banna Strand
[Verse 5]
D
'Twas in an English prison that
G D
They led him to his death
D
"I'm dying for my country"
C G A
He said with his last breath
C D
They buried him in British soil
C G A
Far from his native land
D
And the wild waves sing his requiem
G D
On the lonely Banna Strand
[Instrumental]
D G D B (key change)
[Verse 6]
E
They took Sir Roger home again
A E
In the year of Sixty-Five
E
And with his comrades of Sixteen
D A B
In peace and tranquil lies
D E
His last fond wish, it is fulfilled
D A B
For to lie in his native land
E
And the waves will roll in peace again
A E
On the lonely Banna Strand