While the song title and lyrics refer to the Black and Tans from the War of Independence, the song itself is a dispute between republican and unionist neighbours in inner-city Dublin in the Irish Free State era of the mid-1920s. A variant of the tune migrated to Scotland and to the Appalachian Mountains, where it became the most common melody for the traditional folk ballad Barbara Allen. 1792), which is also used by the loyalist song The Boyne Water. The melody of the song was adapted by Behan from an old air, Rosc Catha na Mumhan (Irish for 'Battlecry of Munster'), by Piaras Mac Gearailt (Pierce FitzGerald, c. At times, the song's authorship has been mistakenly attributed to Stephen Behan. The setting of the song is the Dublin into which Behan was born in the late 1920s, and the main character in the song (who is calling his neighbours 'Black and Tans'), is believed to be Behan's father, Stephen Behan, who was a prominent Irish republican, and who had fought in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. The date when the song was written is not recorded, but Behan was active as a songwriter from 1958 onwards. The song is attributed to Irish songwriter Dominic Behan, who was born into the literary Behan family in Dublin in 1928 (his brother was Brendan Behan).

The most notable recording was in 1972 by the Irish traditional music group, The Wolfe Tones, which re-charted in 2020. The song uses the term 'Black and Tans' in the pejorative sense against people living in Dublin, both Catholic and Protestant, who were pro-British. The song was written by Dominic Behan as a tribute to his Irish Republican Army (IRA) father Stephen, who had fought in the War of Independence, and is concerned with political divisions in working-class Dublin of the 1920s.

A group of Black and Tans and Auxiliaries outside the London and North Western Hotel in Dublin following an IRA attack, April 1921Ĭome Out, Ye Black and Tans is an Irish rebel song referring to the Black and Tans, or 'special reserve constables' (mainly former World War I army soldiers), recruited in Great Britain and sent to Ireland from 1920, to reinforce the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence.

Please... Call Me Derek by Mac Black