BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS: "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 appetite,
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!