Fitzgibbon & The Bloody Boys

Fitzgibbon & The Bloody Boys

words & music Mike Ford

Another day another dose of Social Science class

Dippin’ into deeds, doin’s of the past

Chillin’ ‘til dismissal, this’ll finish really fast

Gotta get outta here and make a lotta noise

Cuz every Monday me and Eric after school

360 is the game and it’s skills, it rules

But Eric’s goin’ on about some pack a’ fools

Fitzgibbon and the Bloody Boys

Cuz Eric says a very long time ago

We were invaded by an alien foe

The bullets and the battles made a pretty big show

Bayonets and the blood and noise

And up on the escarpment on the edges of our town

A special force could move without a sound

Rootin’ out the raiders and invaders they found

Fitzgibbon and the Bloody Boys

So Eric says that we should be a hiking up on the ridge

Scouting out positions in the deepest foliage

Warrior whoopin’ from the Garden City Bridge

Like Fitzgibbon and the Bloody Boys

And I say tell me anybody - anyone

Who were these Bloody Boys and what’s so special ‘bout what they done?

Well Eric he’s been googlin’ all their special ops

A book he found said they were like vigilante cops

Scarin’ off the Yankees where Niagara drops

With their speed and their decoys

Cuz they were masters of deception, dealing and disguise

They could make the enemy think they were 500 guys

Where would we be today – does no-one realize about

Fitzgibbon and the Bloody Boys

And Eric says that WE should be a hiking up on the ridge

Scouting out positions in the deepest foliage

Warrior Whoopin’ from the Garden City bridge

Like Fitzgibbon and the Bloody Boys

And I say tell me – anybody - anyone

Who were these Bloody Boys and what’s so special ‘bout what they done?

Well if they were here today we could sick them on the banks

On the polluters and refuters and the cheaters in the ranks

Sick em on the sickos and the nasty and the cruel

And that guy from Eric’s class who bugs me after school

Cuz you can watch Avengers or Spidey on the screen

You can play Call of Duty til your finger’s turning green

But the Bloody Boys were real - Niagara was the scene

Of their adventures and their joys

So tonight a bunch of us’ll be a-hiking up on the ridge

Scouting out positions in the deepest foliage

Warrior whoopin’ from the Garden City Bridge

Like Fitzgibbon and the Bloody Boys

And they’ll say tell me anybody, anyone

Who are these girls and boys and why do they get all the fun?

My favourite thing about studying the war of 1812 is finding accounts of riveting things that occurred right near where I live and work. One of my sisters and her family live in the Niagara region – from their house you can look up at the Niagara Escarpment. The area is rich with 1812 events and stories. Some of the most exciting ones feature the adventures of a Ranger unit of 50 volunteers under the leadership of James Fitzgibbon.

Fitzgibbon was an Irish soldier who, unlike most of his era, rose through the ranks purely on merit alone – he had no wealth or title to open doors for him. His Ranger unit were often called The Green Tigers, or Green’uns. To highlight their fierceness, some began calling them The Bloody Boys. They were trained to move silently and invisibly through the woods – no doubt learning some of their skills by following the methods of local First Nations warriors.

For months after the Battle of Stoney Creek, U.S. forces held on to Fort George and made repeated attempts to capture more of the Niagara peninsula. Fitzgibbon and his Bloody Boys helped thwart those attempts by constantly interrupting enemy communications and harassing renegade forces who were looting and burning farms. Fitzgibbon himself even went right into Fort George disguised as a Butter Seller, chatted amicably with the soldiers and learned valuable secrets to help defend Canada.

My song is not so much about the 1813 exploits of this group, as it is about a few grade 7 students learning about them in 2012. I imagined what it might be like to learn of these stories today while looking out a school window upon the Escarpment. The characters in my song become more and more enthralled with the historical events, and leave behind their video games to explore the forests and hidden spaces around their town. I am a firm believer in the power that historical tales have to get us moving around outside – whether half-way across the country or right in our own neighbourhood.

1.Most of the military engagements of 1812-14 involved soldiers marching in formation, firing volleys of musket-shot all together, on a Captain’s orders. What would be different about the experience of Fitzgibbon’s Bloody Boys?

2.Can historical events be more interesting than modern-day hobbies? Which aspects of history seem the most interesting? Is a local historical event more interesting than a distant one?

3.What are some of the ways, in the War of 1812, that one side made the other think they had larger forces than was actually the case?

1.MUSIC: Historical markers and plaques are one way we find out about local history. Using digital technology, some such markers are beginning to have a multi-media component – on-site links to information, images, etc. Find a historical 1812 plaque (in person or on-line) and create multi-media links that relate to it (i.e. – a song, rap or poem for visitors and tourists to hear).

2.What historical events have happened near your home or school? Create an ‘annotated map’ of your area with historical locations marked and illustrated. Check out “Annotated Maps” on Google Images for examples…..or, even better, ask your local librarian to show you some real examples.

3. Imagine that you work for the Tourism Board in your area. What local historical events (1812 or otherwise)might you focus on / celebrate / explore to entice tourists to visit your town? Create a poster, magazine ad, TV commercial or ‘Jingle’ to promote your area’s historical highlights.