The Orange Lily O!

Melody - Seq. by D. Lyszyk

And did you go to see the show,
Each rose and pink a dilly, O!
To feast your eyes, and view the prize,
Won by the Orange Lily, O!
Chorus:
Heigh ho, the Lily, O!
The royal,loyal Lily,O
Beneath the sky, what flower can vie.
With Erin's Orange Lily, O!

2. The Viceroy there, so debonair,
Just like a daffadilly, O!
With Lady Clarke, Blithe as a lark,
Approached the Orange Lily, O!
Chorus:

3. Sir Charley too, looked, very blue,
While laughed Horse Master Billy, O!
To think his ex- a flower should vex
And that an Orange Lilly, O
Chorus:

4. A fairer flower, throughout the bower
He sought, but willy nilly, O!
With moistened eyes, he gave the prize
To Erin's Orange Lily, O!
Chorus:

5. The lowland field may roses yield,
Gay heaths the Highland hilly, O!
But high or low, no flower can show,
Like Erin's Orange Lily, O!
Chorus:

6. Let dandies fine in Bond Street shine,
Gay nymphs in Picadilly, O!
But fine or gay must yield the day
To Erin's Orange Lily, O!
Chorus:

7. The elated muse, to hear the news,
Jumped like a Connaught filly, O!
As gossip fame did loud proclaim
The triumph of the Lily,O!
Chorus:

8. Then come brave boys, and share her joys,
And toast the health of Willy, O!
Who bravely won, on Boyne's red shore,
The Royal Orange Lily, O!
Chorus:

The origins and meaning of this famous song are somewhat obscure. It could be a satire on the Emblems Act, which prohibited the wearing of something as simple as a flower.

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