Irish patriot Robert Emmet tried to lead an armed rebellion against Dublin, Ireland, in 1803, but before reaching the castle his small band of men was dispersed by British troops. Emmet was captured, convicted of treason, and hanged.

Emmet became a hero of Irish nationalists, largely on the basis of his stirring speech from the scaffold.

"Let no man write my epitaph...When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then let my epitaph be written."

Bold Robert Emmet
The struggle is over, the boys are defeated,
Old Ireland's surrounded with sadness and gloom,
We were defeated and shamefully treated,
And I, Robert Emmet, awaiting my doom.
Hung, drawn and quartered, sure that was my sentence,
But soon I will show them no coward am I.
My crime is the love of the land I was born in,
A hero I lived and a hero I'll die.

Chorus:
Bold Robert Emmet, the darling of Ireland,
Bold Robert Emmet will die with a smile,
Farewell companions both loyal and daring,
I'll lay down my life for the Emerald Isle.

The barque lay at anchor awaiting to bring me
Over the billows to the land of the free;
But I must see my sweetheart for I know she will cheer me,
And with her I will sail far over the sea.
But I was arrested and cast into prison,
Tried as a traitor, a rebel, a spy,
But no man can call me a knave or a coward,
A hero I lived and a hero I'll die.

Chorus

Hark! I hear the bell's tolling, I well know its meaning,
My poor heart tells me it is my death knell;
In come the clergy, the warder is leading,
I have no friends here to bid me farewell.
Goodbye, old Ireland, my parents and sweetheart,
Companions in arms to forget you must try;
I am proud of the honour, it was only my duty
A hero I lived and a hero I'll die.

Chorus