An Ulster man I am proud to be, from the Antrim glens I come,
And though I've laboured by the sea, I have followed flag and drum,
I have heard the martial tramp of men, I've seen them fight and die,
And well do I remember when I followed Henry Joy.

I pulled my boat in from the sea, I hid my sail away,
I hung my nets on a greenwood tree and scanned the moonlit bay,
The boys were out and the redcoats too, I kissed my love goodbye,
And in the shade of the greenwood glade I followed Henry Joy.

Ah, lads, for Ireland's cause we fought, for home and heart, we bled,
Though our numbers were few and our hearts be true and five to one lay dead,
And manys the lassie missed her lads and mother mourned her boy,
For youth was strong in the daring throng who followed Henry Joy.

In Belfast town, they built a tree and the redcoats mustered there,
I watched him come at the beat of a drum rolled out in the barrack square,
He kissed his sister and went aloft, he waved a last goodbye,
My soul he died, I turned and I cried, "They have murdered Henry Joy!".