Verses 1889-1896 Part 32

I took my bath, an' I wallered -- for, Gawd, I needed it so!

I smelt the smell o' the barricks, I 'eard the bugles go.

I 'eard the feet on the gravel -- the feet o' the men what drill -- An' I sez to my flutterin' 'eart-strings, I sez to 'em, "Peace, be still!"

Back to the Army again, sergeant, Back to the Army again; 'Oo said I knew when the _Jumner_ was due?

I'm back to the Army again!

I carried my slops to the tailor; I sez to 'im, "None o' your lip!

You tight 'em over the shoulders, an' loose 'em over the 'ip, For the set o' the tunic's 'orrid." An' 'e sez to me, "Strike me dead, But I thought you was used to the business!" an' so 'e done what I said.

Back to the Army again, sergeant, Back to the Army again.

Rather too free with my fancies? Wot -- me?

I'm back to the Army again!

Next week I'll 'ave 'em fitted; I'll buy me a swagger-cane; They'll let me free o' the barricks to walk on the Hoe again In the name o' William Parsons, that used to be Edward Clay, An' -- any pore beggar that wants it can draw my fourpence a day!

Back to the Army again, sergeant, Back to the Army again: Out o' the cold an' the rain, sergeant, Out o' the cold an' the rain.

'Oo's there?

A man that's too good to be lost you, A man that is 'andled an' made -- A man that will pay what 'e cost you In learnin' the others their trade -- parade!

You're droppin' the pick o' the Army Because you don't 'elp 'em remain, But drives 'em to cheat to get out o' the street An' back to the Army again!

"BIRDS OF PREY" MARCH

March! The mud is cakin' good about our trousies.

Front! -- eyes front, an' watch the Colour-casin's drip.

Front! The faces of the women in the 'ouses Ain't the kind o' things to take aboard the ship.

Cheer! An' we'll never march to victory.

Cheer! An' we'll never live to 'ear the cannon roar!

The Large Birds o' Prey They will carry us away, An' you'll never see your soldiers any more!

Wheel! Oh, keep your touch; we're goin' round a corner.

Time! -- mark time, an' let the men be'ind us close.

Lord! the transport's full, an' 'alf our lot not on 'er -- Cheer, O cheer! We're going off where no one knows.

March! The Devil's none so black as 'e is painted!

Cheer! We'll 'ave some fun before we're put away.

'Alt, an' 'and 'er out -- a woman's gone and fainted!

Cheer! Get on -- Gawd 'elp the married men to-day!

Hoi! Come up, you 'ungry beggars, to yer sorrow.

('Ear them say they want their tea, an' want it quick!) You won't have no mind for slingers, not to-morrow -- No; you'll put the 'tween-decks stove out, bein' sick!

'Alt! The married kit 'as all to go before us!

'Course it's blocked the bloomin' gangway up again!

Cheer, O cheer the 'Orse Guards watchin' tender o'er us, Keepin' us since eight this mornin' in the rain!

Stuck in 'eavy marchin'-order, sopped and wringin' -- Sick, before our time to watch 'er 'eave an' fall, 'Ere's your 'appy 'ome at last, an' stop your singin'.

'Alt! Fall in along the troop-deck! Silence all!

Cheer! For we'll never live to see no bloomin' victory!

Cheer! An' we'll never live to 'ear the cannon roar! (One cheer more!) The jackal an' the kite 'Ave an 'ealthy appet.i.te, An' you'll never see your soldiers any more! ('Ip! Urroar!) The eagle an' the crow They are waitin' ever so, An' you'll never see your soldiers any more! ('Ip! Urroar!) Yes, the Large Birds o' Prey They will carry us away, An' you'll never see your soldiers any more!

"SOLDIER AN' SAILOR TOO"

As I was spittin' into the Ditch aboard o' the _Crocodile_, I seed a man on a man-o'-war got up in the Reg'lars' style.

'E was sc.r.a.pin' the paint from off of 'er plates, an' I sez to 'im, "'Oo are you?"

Sez 'e, "I'm a Jolly -- 'Er Majesty's Jolly -- soldier an' sailor too!"

Now 'is work begins by Gawd knows when, and 'is work is never through; 'E isn't one o' the reg'lar Line, nor 'e isn't one of the crew.

'E's a kind of a giddy harumfrodite -- soldier an' sailor too!

An' after I met 'im all over the world, a-doin' all kinds of things, Like landin' 'isself with a Gatlin' gun to talk to them 'eathen kings; 'E sleeps in an 'ammick instead of a cot, an' 'e drills with the deck on a slew, An' 'e sweats like a Jolly -- 'Er Majesty's Jolly -- soldier an' sailor too!

For there isn't a job on the top o' the earth the beggar don't know, nor do -- You can leave 'im at night on a bald man's 'ead, to paddle 'is own canoe -- 'E's a sort of a bloomin' cosmopolouse -- soldier an' sailor too.

We've fought 'em in trooper, we've fought 'em in dock, and drunk with 'em in betweens, When they called us the seasick scull'ry-maids, an' we called 'em the a.s.s Marines; But, when we was down for a double fatigue, from Woolwich to Bernardmyo, We sent for the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!

They think for 'emselves, an' they steal for 'emselves, and they never ask what's to do, But they're camped an' fed an' they're up an' fed before our bugle's blew.

Ho! they ain't no limpin' procrast.i.tutes -- soldier an' sailor too.

You may say we are fond of an 'arness-cut, or 'ootin' in barrick-yards, Or startin' a Board School mutiny along o' the Onion Guards; But once in a while we can finish in style for the ends of the earth to view, The same as the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!

They come of our lot, they was brothers to us; they was beggars we'd met an' knew; Yes, barrin' an inch in the chest an' the arm, they was doubles o' me an' you; For they weren't no special chrysanthemums -- soldier an' sailor too!

To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about, Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, an' leave an' likin' to shout; But to stand an' be still to the _Birken'ead_ drill is a d.a.m.n tough bullet to chew, An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!

Their work was done when it 'adn't begun; they was younger nor me an' you; Their choice it was plain between drownin' in 'eaps an' bein' mopped by the screw, So they stood an' was still to the _Birken'ead_ drill, soldier an' sailor too!

We're most of us liars, we're 'arf of us thieves, an' the rest are as rank as can be, But once in a while we can finish in style (which I 'ope it won't 'appen to me).

But it makes you think better o' you an' your friends, an' the work you may 'ave to do, When you think o' the sinkin' _Victorier_'s Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!

Now there isn't no room for to say ye don't know -- they 'ave proved it plain and true -- That whether it's Widow, or whether it's ship, Victorier's work is to do, An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!

SAPPERS

When the Waters were dried an' the Earth did appear, ("It's all one," says the Sapper), The Lord He created the Engineer, Her Majesty's Royal Engineer, With the rank and pay of a Sapper!

When the Flood come along for an extra monsoon, 'Twas Noah constructed the first pontoon To the plans of Her Majesty's, etc.

But after fatigue in the wet an' the sun, Old Noah got drunk, which he wouldn't ha' done If he'd trained with, etc.