This patriotic ballad is easy to date.  The USA Declaration of Independence was signed on 4 July 1776 and this song appeared at about the same time.  It rejoices in several titles including “Sons of Liberty”, “North (0f) America/Amerikay”, whilst a related song is “Farewell to Kingsbridge”.  It has been found in England and Ireland and surprisingly seldom in the USA.  In this version, the troops are setting out from Plymouth, but other versions have the troops leaving from Glasgow.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 3 April 2016