Page:Irish minstrelsy, vol 2 - Hardiman.djvu/150

138 render their doctrine odious, seems to have been studiously resorted to. Hence the words of our text. It may therefore be concluded, that as England is now a Protestant, and Scotland a Presbyterian, country, so Ireland is, and ever will continue to be, pre-eminently Catholic. If space permit, some curious illustrations of the facts here stated may be given.

The air of this song is more generally known than the origin of its name. Shane Bui, means, literally, Yellow or Orange Jack, (the John Bull of former days,) there being no other word in Irish to express the latter colour. It was an appellation given by the Irish to the English followers of William III. in Ireland. Hence the term Orangemen.

By the rhetorical figure Metonymy, this name is here put for Ireland. It has before appeared that Grana Uile, Roisin Dubh, and several others have been similarly used by the Irish Bards. The orthography, Sheela na Guire, is retained because it is better known than the literal translation of the original name, viz. Sheela (or Cecilia) O'Gara, and the poetical reader will immediately perceive the necessity in this instance for adopting the common orthography and general mode of pronunciation. Sheela has been always esteemed one of our best political songs, and may be pronounced at least equal to Colonel Mac Gillarry, which Mr. Hogg, no bad authority, considered as the best Jacobite song of Scotland. It seems to have been a favorite with the exiled Irish. The printed copy has been taken from one transcribed in France in the last century. The tune is lively and popular.