Lyr Req: The Butcher's Apron (Irish Rebel)

Subject: LYR REQ The Butcher's Apron (Irish Rebel)
From:
Date: 09 Jun 99 - 01:35 PM

Would someone please help me with the lyrics to the Irish rebel song "The Butcher's Apron"
The chorus is:

Where is the flag of England, go north, south, east, or west
Wherever there's wealth to plunder, or lands to be possessed
Wherever there's feeble races to frighten coerce or scare
You will find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there.

Subject: RE: LYR REQ The Butcher's Apron (Irish Rebel)
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 20 May 04 - 01:09 AM

No joy on this particular song, but did find a very interesting site here.

Lin

Subject: RE: LYR REQ The Butcher's Apron (Irish Rebel)
From: GUEST
Date: 20 May 04 - 04:18 PM

One newsgroupie posted this verse:

Where is the flag of England
Seek lands where natives rot
Where decay and assured extinction
must soon be a people's lot
Go where brute force has triumphed
and hypocrisy makes its lair
And the question you'll find the answer it was or still is there

Subject: Lyr Add: WHERE IS THE FLAG OF ENGLAND? (LaBouchere
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 May 04 - 09:00 PM

This seems to be the original poem from which the song "Butcher's Apron" derived, but note that the term "butcher's apron" doesn't appear in it. Do you suppose it's just a coincidence that the author's name is LaBouchere - the feminine form of "the butcher"?

Lyrics and notes copied from http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8233/Butchers.htm

WHERE IS THE FLAG OF ENGLAND?
Henry Dupre LaBouchere

I
Let the winds of the world make answer!
North, South, East, West,
Wherever there is wealth to covet
Or land to be possessed:
Wherever the savage nations
To coddle, coerce or scare,
You may look for the vaunted emblem
For the Flag of England is there!

II
Aye, it waves over the blazing hovels
Whence its African victims fly
To be shot by explosive bullets
Or wretchedly starve and die:
Or where the beachcomber hammers
The isles of tbe southern sea -
From the peak of his hellish vessel
The English flag flies free!

III
The Maori, full of hate, curses
With his fleeting, dying breath.
And the Arab hath hissed his curses
As he spat at its folds in death.
The hapless fellah hath feared it
On Tel el Kebir's parched plain.
And the blood of the Zulu hath stained it,
With a deep indelible stain.

IV
It has floated over scenes of pillage
And flaunted over deeds of shame.
It has waved o'er the fell marauder
As he ravished with Sword and flame:
It has looked on ruthless slaughter
And assassination dire and grim.
And has heard the shrieks of its victims
Drown even the jingo hymn.

V
Where is the flag of England?
Seek the land where the natives rot
And decay, and assured extinction
Must soon be the people's lot.
Go to the once fair island
Where disease and death are rife
And the greed of colossal commerce
Now fattens on human life.

VI
Where is the flag of England?
Go sail where the rich galleons come
With their shoddy and wasted cotton,
And beer and Bibles and rum.
Seek the land where brute force hath triumphed
And hypocrisy hath its lair.
And your question will thus be answered
For the flag of England is there!

LaBouchere (1831-1912) was born in London and educated at Eaton and Trinity College. He was in the diplomatic service for 10 years, in Parliament during the '60s, and again from 1880 to 1906. He founded TRUTH in 1877, was a member of inquiry into the Jameson raid, and bitterly opposed Joseph Chamberlain and Lord Roseberry. During the last nine years of his life he lived in Italy, where he died.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Butcher's Apron (Irish Rebel)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 May 04 - 01:52 PM

An interesting bloke, La Bouchere, and a patriotic Little Englander.

Worth reading this page from The Twickenham Museum, in London, which was where he lived, and about his local theatrical activities, which involved giving Lily Langtry her first break.

"He was educated at Eton and Trinity College Cambridge. A radical, an agnostic, and a rebel, he took several gap years off in wandering around Latin America, joined a circus, and spent six months in a camp of Chippeway Indians."

So logically enough, when Buffalo Bill came to town, La Bouchere and his wife invited all the Native Americans along to tea. "At Hampton Court, shown the Maze, they passed through in record time, not realising it was a Maze."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Butcher's Apron (Irish Rebel)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 May 04 - 04:19 PM

And here is a cartoon of him.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Butcher's Apron (Irish Rebel)
From: Coyote Breath
Date: 24 May 04 - 12:44 AM

When living in the "Heart of Dixie" in 1970 I was told that the original name of Huntsville (Alabama, of course) was Twickenham.

Odd, hey?

The "Butcher's Apron" is unlikely to have been a reference to La Bouchere's name. It is another way, as the first post illustrates, of referring to the British Flag.

CB

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BUTCHER'S APRON (Irish Rebel)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 15 Sep 14 - 08:11 PM

Sort of late to be replying but if my cut and paste works:

Click here

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West.
Wherever there's wealth to plunder or land to be possessed.
Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.
You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there!

It waits upon blazing hovels where African victims died,
to be shot the explosive bullets or wretchedly starve and die,
and where the pirate hammers the isles of southern seas,
at the peak of the hellish vessel the English flag is free!

The Maori often cursed it with his bitterness dying breath,
and the Arab hath hissed his hatred as he spat at its folds in death,
and the helpless Hindu feared it, and the Kenyan did the same,
and the Irish blood hath stained it, with a deep indelible stain.

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West.
Wherever there's wealth to plunder or land to be possessed.
Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.
You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there!

It is floated on scenes of pillage, it is flaunted on deeds of shame.
It has waved o'er fell marauders, as they ravished with sword and flame,
it has looked upon on ruthless slaughter, and massacred dire and grim,
and has heard the shrieks of victims drowning the jingo hymn.

Where is the flag of England? Seek lands where the natives rot.
Where decay, and assured extinction must soon be a people's lot.
Go search for once glad islands where death and disease are rife,
and the greed of colossal commerce now fattens on human life.

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West.
Wherever there's wealth to plunder or land to be possessed.
Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.
You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there!

Where is the flag of England? Go sail where rich boats come.
With shoddy and loaded cottons, and beer and Bibles and guns.
Go where brute forces triumphed, and hypocrisy makes its lair.
In your question you'll find the answer, it was and still is there!

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West.
Wherever there's wealth to plunder or land to be possessed.
Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.
You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there!

pdf has excellent analysis meaning of lyrics - it's the Wolftones version; none of what I googled had it this close -

------------Hyperlink added. Mudelf_________