William McKay served with the 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Below is a poem he had written for his mother when he left.
It's of a youngfellow I'm going to tell,
He hailed from Coleraine, you know him quite well,
He left for old England, sailed far o'er the foam,
And left his old Mother and left his old home.
Mother, dear Mother, I bid youadieu,
Wherever I wander my heart is with you,
Wherever I wander my heart will remain,
With all that I love in the town of Coleraine.
Goodbye my old comrades, goodbye toall,
To all my old comrades from bold Donegal,
I am leaving in pain, farewell again,
To my friends and comrades in the town of Coleraine.