Come Out Ye Black and Tans

During the Anglo-Irish War (1919-1921), the British government authorized the assembly of paramilitary forces designed to quell the uprising. The more famous of these forces was the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Reserve Force, more infamously known throughout Ireland as the "Black and Tans" because there was a shortage of police uniforms, and so items of military attire were used as supplements.

The intent of the RIC Reserve Force, established by Winston Churchill, was to target the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Irish force spearheading the war for independence. However, the RIC Reserve Force became infamous for its repeated attacks on Irish civilians, including the November 21, 1920 "Bloody Sunday" assault at Croke Park in Dublin.

"If a police barracks is burned or if the barracks already occupied is not suitable, then the best house in the locality is to be commandeered, the occupants thrown into the gutter. Let them die there—the more the merrier.
Should the order ("Hands Up") not be immediately obeyed, shoot and shoot with effect. If the persons approaching (a patrol) carry their hands in their pockets, or are in any way suspicious-looking, shoot them down. You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot, but that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties some time. The more you shoot, the better I will like you, and I assure you no policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man."
-- Lt. Col. Smyth, June 1920

The brutal nature of the Black and Tans led even British citizens to petition for their recall from Ireland. To this day, "Black and Tan" or "Tan" remains a pejorative term for British in Ireland.

Dominic Behan captured the cruel nature of the Tans in his famous Republican song, "Come Out Ye Black and Tans."



Come Out Ye Black and Tans
I was born on a Dublin street
Where the Royal drums do beat
And the loving English feet they walked all over us,
And each and every night
When me da' would come home tight
He'd invite the neighbors out with this chorus:

Chorus:
Oh, come out ye black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man
Show your wives how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.

Come let me hear you tell
How you slandered great Parnell,
When you fought them well and truly persecuted,
Where are the sneers and jeers
That you loudly let us hear
When our leaders of sixteen were executed?

Chorus

Come tell us how you slew
Those Arabs two by two
Like the Zulus they had spears and bows and arrows,
How you bravely faced one
With your sixteen pounder gun
And you frightened them poor natives to their marrow.

Chorus

The day is coming fast
And the time is here at last,
When each yeoman will be cast aside before us,
And if there be a need
Sure my kids will sing, "Godspeed!"
With a verse or two of Stephen Beehan's chorus!