Barrack-Room Ballads

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"></SPAN></p> <br/> <h2> 'Birds of Prey' March </h2> <p>March! The mud is cakin' good about our trousies.<br/> Front!&mdash;eyes front, an' watch the Colour-casin's drip.<br/> Front! The faces of the women in the 'ouses<br/> Ain't the kind o' things to take aboard the ship.<br/> <br/> Cheer! An' we'll never march to victory.<br/> Cheer! An' we'll never live to 'ear the cannon roar!<br/> The Large Birds o' Prey<br/> They will carry us away,<br/> An' you'll never see your soldiers any more!<br/> <br/> Wheel! Oh, keep your touch; we're goin' round a corner.<br/> Time!&mdash;mark time, an' let the men be'ind us close.<br/> Lord! the transport's full, an' 'alf our lot not on 'er&mdash;<br/> Cheer, O cheer! We're going off where no one knows.<br/> <br/> March! The Devil's none so black as 'e is painted!<br/> Cheer! We'll 'ave some fun before we're put away.<br/> 'Alt, an' 'and 'er out&mdash;a woman's gone and fainted!<br/> Cheer! Get on&mdash;Gawd 'elp the married men to-day!<br/> <br/> Hoi! Come up, you 'ungry beggars, to yer sorrow.<br/> ('Ear them say they want their tea, an' want it quick!)<br/> You won't have no mind for slingers, not to-morrow&mdash;<br/> No; you'll put the 'tween-decks stove out, bein' sick!<br/> <br/> 'Alt! The married kit 'as all to go before us!<br/> 'Course it's blocked the bloomin' gangway up again!<br/> Cheer, O cheer the 'Orse Guards watchin' tender o'er us,<br/> Keepin' us since eight this mornin' in the rain!<br/> <br/> Stuck in 'eavy marchin'-order, sopped and wringin'&mdash;<br/> Sick, before our time to watch 'er 'eave an' fall,<br/> 'Ere's your 'appy 'ome at last, an' stop your singin'.<br/> 'Alt! Fall in along the troop-deck! Silence all!<br/> <br/> Cheer! For we'll never live to see no bloomin' victory!<br/> Cheer! An' we'll never live to 'ear the cannon roar! (One cheer more!)<br/> The jackal an' the kite<br/> 'Ave an 'ealthy appetite,<br/> An' you'll never see your soldiers any more! ('Ip! Urroar!)<br/> The eagle an' the crow<br/> They are waitin' ever so,<br/> An' you'll never see your soldiers any more! ('Ip! Urroar!)<br/> Yes, the Large Birds o' Prey<br/> They will carry us away,<br/> An' you'll never see your soldiers any more!<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />