# The Croppy Boy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Croppy_Boy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Croppy_Boy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Croppy_Boy > Source revision: 1347352323 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Irish sentimental ballad}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Charlotte Schreiber - The Croppy Boy.jpg|thumb|[Charlotte Schreiber](/source/Charlotte_Schreiber)'s painting ''The Croppy Boy (The Confession of an Irish Patriot)'']] "'''The Croppy Boy'''" ([Roud](/source/Roud_Folk_Song_Index) 1030) is an Irish [sentimental ballad](/source/sentimental_ballad) set during the [Irish Rebellion of 1798](/source/Irish_Rebellion_of_1798) which depicts the fate of a fictional [Society of United Irishmen](/source/Society_of_United_Irishmen) rebel, who were also known as [croppies](/source/Croppy). Versions of the ballad first appeared shortly after the rebellion's suppression, being sung by street [peddler](/source/peddler)s in Ireland. There were also several [broadside](/source/Broadside_(music)) versions of the ballad that were printed. These typically include the phrase "500 Guineas" or "one thousand pounds", and are also sung to the tune of the old [Irish](/source/Irish_language) air [Cailín Óg a Stór](/source/Cail%C3%ADn_%C3%93g_a_St%C3%B3r). They may form the basis for the ballad ''[Lady Franklin's Lament](/source/Lady_Franklin's_Lament)''.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} A version of the ballad by [William B. McBurney (aka Carroll Malone)](/source/William_B._McBurney) first appeared in the Irish newspaper ''[The Nation](/source/The_Nation_(Irish_newspaper))'' in 1845 and concerns a fictional rebel who stops in a [Catholic church](/source/Catholic_Church_in_Ireland) on his way to participate in the rebellion. He sees a cloaked figure in a confessional and kneels for the penitential rite. Unbeknownst to him, the figure is actually a [yeomanry](/source/yeomanry) captain who sought refuge from the rebels by hiding in the confessional. After the youth completes his confession, the officer reveals himself and proceeds to arrest the youth and take him away to be imprisoned in [Geneva Barracks](/source/Geneva_Barracks) and then executed. McBurney's version is the subject of English-Canadian artist [Charlotte Schreiber](/source/Charlotte_Schreiber)'s painting ''The Croppy Boy (The Confession of an Irish Patriot)'', now on display in the [National Gallery of Canada](/source/National_Gallery_of_Canada). The noted singer [Anne Byrne](/source/Anne_Byrne_(Irish_folk_singer)) (1943-2020) accompanied by Paddy Roche and Mick Crotty recorded in 1967 a famous version of "The Croppy Boy", on the album , "I Chose the Green".I Chose The Green album cover, Waverley – SZLP 2097 EMI https://archive.org/details/lp_i-chose-the-green_anne-byrne_0 == References == {{Reflist}} * [http://www.james-joyce-music.com/song16_composer.html Music in James Joyce's works] * [https://www.from-ireland.net/song-croppy-boy-version-2/ Croppy Boy (Version II) by Carroll Malone] {{Irish rebel songs}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Croppy Boy}} Category:Ballads Category:Ballads of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 Category:Irish Rebellion of 1798 Category:Irish songs Category:Songs with unknown songwriters Category:Year of song unknown Category:Songs of the American Civil War --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Croppy Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Croppy_Boy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Croppy_Boy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.