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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
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belfastlive.co.uk

The Sash lyrics so you can join in on Twelfth 2023 celebrations

Marching bands practice all year round in Orange lodges up and down the country to deliver Twelfth celebrations in pitch perfect style.

And one of the most famous songs that will ring out on flutes, pipes, accordions and drums is The Sash.

Whether you're from a unionist, nationalist - or neither - background, it's a tune most people from Northern Ireland are at least a little bit familiar with. But do you know all the words?

Here they are if you need a quick reminder before the Twelfth:

The Sash

So sure I'm an Ulster Orangeman, from Erin's Isle I came,

To see my British brethren all of honour and of fame,

And to tell them of my forefathers who fought in days of yore,

That I might have the right to wear the sash my father wore.

Chorus:

It is old but it is beautiful and its colours they are fine,

It was worn at Derry, Aughrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne.

My father wore it as a youth in bygone days of yore,

And on the Twelfth, I love to wear the sash my father wore.

For those brave men who crossed the Boyne have not fought or died in vain

Our Unity, Religion, Laws, and Freedom to maintain,

If the call should come we'll follow the drum, and cross that river once more

That tomorrow's Ulsterman may wear the sash my father wore.

Chorus:

It is old but it is beautiful and its colours they are fine,

It was worn at Derry, Aughrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne.

My father wore it as a youth in bygone days of yore,

And on the Twelfth, I love to wear the sash my father wore.

And when some day, across the sea to Antrim's shore you come,

We'll welcome you in royal style, to the sound of flute and rum

And Ulster's hills shall echo still, from Rathlin to Dromore

As we sing again the loyal strain of the sash my father wore.

Chorus:

It is old but it is beautiful and its colours they are fine,

It was worn at Derry, Aughrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne.

My father wore it as a youth in bygone days of yore,

And on the Twelfth, I love to wear the sash my father wore.

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