Folksong about "Battle of the Boyne".

"The Boyne Water" is an Ulster Protestant folksong by an anonymous lyricist. The lyrics of the song commemorate King William III of Orange's victory over James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, part of the Williamite War in Ireland.

Unionists point to the Battle of the Boyne as decisive in achieving a constitutional monarchy in the United Kingdom. Modern historians also agree that this conflict, otherwise known as the Glorious Revolution and played out in Scotland as well, was the conclusion of the English Civil War of 1642 – 1651 Indeed, King James II as a very young Duke of York was present with his father Charles at the Battle of Edge Hill in 1642.

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". Folk memories in the 17th century, when the song was possibly written, were no doubt still very fresh concerning the various retributive massacres between Irish natives and Protestant settlers in the Irish Rebellion of 1641.