 The lyrics of the song narrate the course of the Battle of the Boyne.It mentions real events such as the death of the Duke of Schomberg, William of Orange's leading the Enniskillen cavalry across the River Boyne, and the Williamite infantry's repulse of the Jacobite cavalry's counter-attacks.The song also expresses the view that victory in the battle saved the Irish Protestant community from massacre by the Irish Catholics - "So praise God, all true Protestants, and I will say no further,
But had the Papists gained that day, there would have been open murder".