In 1797 four young militiamen were tried by Court Martial in Belfast for connexion with the United Irishmen, convicted, and immediately afterwards shot at a place called Blaris or Blaris Moor in the County Down, near Lisburn; in an event that caused intense and widespread indignation in Ulster. To commemorate this, a spirited ballad of eight verses—of the characteristic peasant type—was composed, the author of which was believed to be Garland the ‘Lurgan Poet’.… That the ballad should have been sung to so many different airs and settings, in Munster as well as in Ulster, indicates its widespread popularity.

P W Joyce

Old Folk Music and Songs, 1909