The House of Orange (song)
The House of Orange is a Stan Rogers song about The Troubles, in particular about Canadian fundraising for the Irish Republican movement. The overall sentiment of the song is that the violence of the IRA is not justified and that it also does harm to the Nationalist population of Northern Ireland. Loyalist extremism is also condemned[1]. The 'House of Orange' mentioned in the song is the royal house of William III of England, the Dutch prince who led the Protestant side of the Williamite war in Ireland, though it stands as an analogy for the Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist population of Ireland. It is on his posthumous CD From Fresh Water. This is the last song written by Stan Rogers before his death, and arguably among his most lyrically evocative.[2]
The final verse:
All rights and all wrongs have long since blown away,
For causes are ashes where children lie slain.
Yet the damned U.D.L. and the cruel I.R.A.
Will tomorrow go murdering again.
But no penny of mine will I add to the fray.
"Remember the Boyne!" they will cry out in vain,
For I've given my heart to the place I was born
And forgiven the whole House of Orange
King Billy and the whole House of Orange [3]