[Verse]
To the tiny homesteads of the west,
The recruiting sergeant came,
He promised all a future bright,
So the brave young men went off to fight,
For the empire and her might.

And many victories they had seen,
Many hardships they had been,
They fought and died, side by side,
Their enemies they had defied for a foreign king.

[Chorus]
And the drums they were a-beating time,
While the pipes did loudly play,
When Daly died, the drums did beat,
That morning in the Dagshai heat,
Now we'll beat the drums no more.

[Verse]
While serving in a far off land,
The news had come from home,
Of our people's fate it did relate,
Of the tans and their campaign of hate,
Now we're fighting on their side.

"Arise, arise!" young Daly cried,
Come join along with me,
We'll strike a blow for liberty,
Our regiment will mutiny and support our friends at home.

[Chorus]
And the drums they were a-beating time,
While the pipes did loudly play,
When Daly died, the drums did beat,
That morning in the Dagshai heat,
Now we'll beat the drums no more.

[Verse]
And the colonel stood before his troops,
The men who mutinied,
He told them of those honours won,
But the men stood in that blazing sun,
Saying, "We'll fight your war no more."

For cannon fodder we have been,
For the French at Waterloo and Suvla side and Sud-El-Bar,
We fought your every bloody war,
Now we'll fight your war no more.

[Chorus]
And the drums they were a-beating time,
While the pipes did loudly play,
When Daly died, the drums did beat,
That morning in the Dagshai heat,
Now we'll beat the drums no more.

[Verse]
Those men got penal servitude,
And Daly's condemned to die,
Far from his home in Tyrellspass,
This young man died in Ireland's cause,
Far from his native land.

[Chorus]
And the drums they were a-beating time,
While the pipes did loudly play,
When Daly died, the drums did beat,
That morning in the Dagshai heat,
Now we'll beat the drums no more,

[Chorus]
And the drums they were a-beating time,
While the pipes did loudly play,
When Daly died, the drums did beat,
That morning in the Dagshai heat,
Now we'll beat the drums no more.