The Croppy Boy

Versions of the ballad first appeared shortly after the rebellion's suppression, being sung by street peddlers in Ireland.

These typically include the phrase "500 Guineas" or "one thousand pounds", and are also sung to the tune of the old Irish air Cailín Óg a Stór.

[citation needed] A version of the ballad by William B. McBurney first appeared in the Irish newspaper The Nation in 1845 and concerns a fictional rebel who stops in a Catholic church on his way to participate in the rebellion.

Unbeknownst to him, the figure is actually a yeomanry captain who sought refuge from the rebels by hiding in the confessional.

McBurney's version is the subject of English-Canadian artist Charlotte Schreiber's painting The Croppy Boy (The Confession of an Irish Patriot), now on display in the National Gallery of Canada.