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<br/>
<h2> 'Soldier an' Salor Too' </h2>
<p>As I was spittin' into the Ditch aboard o' the Crocodile,<br/>
I seed a man on a man-o'-war got up in the Reg'lars' style.<br/>
'E was scrapin' the paint from off of 'er plates,<br/>
an' I sez to 'im, “'Oo are you?”<br/>
Sez 'e, “I'm a Jolly—'Er Majesty's Jolly—soldier an' sailor too!”<br/>
Now 'is work begins by Gawd knows when, and 'is work is never through;<br/>
'E isn't one o' the reg'lar Line, nor 'e isn't one of the crew.<br/>
'E's a kind of a giddy harumfrodite—soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
<br/>
An' after I met 'im all over the world, a-doin' all kinds of things,<br/>
Like landin' 'isself with a Gatlin' gun to talk to them 'eathen kings;<br/>
'E sleeps in an 'ammick instead of a cot,<br/>
an' 'e drills with the deck on a slew,<br/>
An' 'e sweats like a Jolly—'Er Majesty's Jolly—soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
For there isn't a job on the top o' the earth the beggar don't know, nor do—<br/>
You can leave 'im at night on a bald man's 'ead, to paddle 'is own canoe—<br/>
'E's a sort of a bloomin' cosmopolouse—soldier an' sailor too.<br/>
<br/>
We've fought 'em in trooper, we've fought 'em in dock,<br/>
and drunk with 'em in betweens,<br/>
When they called us the seasick scull'ry-maids,<br/>
an' we called 'em the Ass Marines;<br/>
But, when we was down for a double fatigue, from Woolwich to Bernardmyo,<br/>
We sent for the Jollies—'Er Majesty's Jollies—soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
They think for 'emselves, an' they steal for 'emselves,<br/>
and they never ask what's to do,<br/>
But they're camped an' fed an' they're up an' fed before our bugle's blew.<br/>
Ho! they ain't no limpin' procrastitutes—soldier an' sailor too.<br/>
<br/>
You may say we are fond of an 'arness-cut, or 'ootin' in barrick-yards,<br/>
Or startin' a Board School mutiny along o' the Onion Guards;<br/>
But once in a while we can finish in style for the ends of the earth to view,<br/>
The same as the Jollies—'Er Majesty's Jollies—soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
They come of our lot, they was brothers to us;<br/>
they was beggars we'd met an' knew;<br/>
Yes, barrin' an inch in the chest an' the arm, they was doubles o' me an' you;<br/>
For they weren't no special chrysanthemums—soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
<br/>
To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about,<br/>
Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, an' leave an' likin' to shout;<br/>
But to stand an' be still to the Birken'ead drill<br/>
is a damn tough bullet to chew,<br/>
An' they done it, the Jollies—'Er Majesty's Jollies—<br/>
soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
Their work was done when it 'adn't begun; they was younger nor me an' you;<br/>
Their choice it was plain between drownin' in 'eaps<br/>
an' bein' mopped by the screw,<br/>
So they stood an' was still to the Birken'ead drill, soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
<br/>
We're most of us liars, we're 'arf of us thieves,<br/>
an' the rest are as rank as can be,<br/>
But once in a while we can finish in style<br/>
(which I 'ope it won't 'appen to me).<br/>
But it makes you think better o' you an' your friends,<br/>
an' the work you may 'ave to do,<br/>
When you think o' the sinkin' Victorier's Jollies—soldier an' sailor too!<br/>
Now there isn't no room for to say ye don't know—<br/>
they 'ave proved it plain and true—<br/>
That whether it's Widow, or whether it's ship, Victorier's work is to do,<br/>
An' they done it, the Jollies—'Er Majesty's Jollies—<br/>
soldier an' sailor too!<br/></p>
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