Lero, lero, lillibulero,

Lillibulero, bullen a la,

Lillibulero, lero, lero,

Lillibulero, bullen a la.

Far from being nonsense syllables, the above refrain is in fact an elegant and perfectly grammatical shout of triumph, or slogan¹, in Irish.

Léir² ó, léir ó, lile ba léir ó,

Lile ba léir ó, ba linn an lá,

Lile ba léir ó, léir ó, léir ó,

Lile ba léir ó, ba linn an lá.

Clear oh, clear oh, the lily was clear oh,

The lily was clear oh, the day was ours,

The lily was clear oh, clear oh, clear oh,

The lily was clear oh, the day was ours.

Was the flower in question is the orange lily? This was the emblem of Prince William of Orange–Nassau, who defeated the armies of King James II at two memorable battles in Ireland: first at the river Boyne on the first of July 1690, and then more decisively at Aughrim, Co Galway, on the twelfth of July 1691. William thus concluded his 'Glorious Revolution', deposing the last Catholic ruler of England, and becoming King William III.

If so, then why is this particular slogan in Irish? Were the Irish not fighting for James?

The quick answer would be yes; most of the Irish were then, as now, Roman Catholic, and stood to gain from a Catholic ruler in England. But things are rarely that simple in Irish politics, and in these particular battles both sides fielded heterogeneous armies. On James's side were troops from Ireland, France, Germany, and Flanders (French-speaking Walloons); and on William's were soldiers from England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, and—Ireland.

The words of the song however date from six or seven years earlier; in 1685 Lord Talbot was made Lord Lieutenant (Governor) of Ireland, and created Lord Tyrconnell by James II, and Thomas Wharton put the following satirical words to a tune by Purcell:

Ho brother Teague, dost hear de decree?

Lilli burlero, bullen a la;

Dat we shall have a new deputie,

Lilli burlero, bullen a la.



Chorus: Lero, lero, lilli burlero, [etc]



Ho, by my Soul, it is a Talbot;

And he will cut all de English throat



Though, by my soul, de English do prate,

De law's on dere side and de divil knows what,



But if Depense do come from de Pope

We'll hang Magna Cart and demselves in a rope



And de good Talbot is now made a Lord,

And with his brave lads he's coming aboard,



Who all in France have taken a swear,

Dat day will have no Protestant heir,



O but why does he stay behind?

Ho, by my soul, 'tis a Protestant wind,



Now that Tyrconnel is come ashore,

And we shall have commissions galore.



And he dat will not go to Mass,

Shall be turned out and look like an ass,



Now, now de hereticks all will go down,

By Christ and St. Patrick's the nation's our own,



Dere was an old prophercy found in a bog,

Dat our land would be ruled by an ass and a dog,



So now dis old prophecy's coming to pass,

For James is de dog and Tyrconnel's de ass,

It is possible on the other hand that the Lily referred to is William Lilly, a famous astrologer who had predicted various events. He was tried for causing the Fire of London, since a drawing of his had been interpreted as predicting it; but he escaped conviction by pleading that the prediction was not specific. He had predicted that Cromwell's son Richard would establish a strong government after his father's death, which failed to come true. He was a parliamentarian who was unpopular with the royalists after the Restoration. Next question is whether he had predicted the restoration of a Catholic Monarchy.