Punch/Volume 147/Issue 3829/A Recruiting Ballad
[Recruiting in country districts is languishing because the folk hear nothing of their regiments, and local attachment is very strong. Unfortunately this ballad had to be founded on material supplied by the C———r. However, the permitted references to Germans ought at any rate to convince the public that the ballad has no connection whatever with the late Boer War.]
This is the tale of the Blankshires bold, the famous charge they made;
This is the tale of the deeds they did whose glory never will fade;
They only numbered X hundred men and the German were thousands (Y),
Yet on the battlefield of Z they made the foeman fly.
This is the tale of the deeds they did whose glory never will fade;
They only numbered X hundred men and the German were thousands (Y),
Yet on the battlefield of Z they made the foeman fly.
Calm and cool on the field they stood (near a town—I can't say where):
Some of them hugged their rifles close but none of them turned a hair:
The Colonel (I must suppress his name) looked out on the stubborn foe,
And said, "My lads, we must drive them hence, else A + B will go."
Some of them hugged their rifles close but none of them turned a hair:
The Colonel (I must suppress his name) looked out on the stubborn foe,
And said, "My lads, we must drive them hence, else A + B will go."
Then each man looked in his neighbour's face and laughed with sudden glee
(The Briton fights his very best for algebra's formulæ);
The hostile guns barked loud and sharp (their number I cannot give),
And no one deemed the Blankety Blanks could face that fire and live.
(The Briton fights his very best for algebra's formulæ);
The hostile guns barked loud and sharp (their number I cannot give),
And no one deemed the Blankety Blanks could face that fire and live.
For Colonel O. was struck by a shell and wounded was Major Q.,
And half a hostile army corps came suddenly into view;
And hidden guns spat death at them and airmen hovered to kill,
But the Blankety Blanks just opened their ranks and charged an (unnamed) hill.
And half a hostile army corps came suddenly into view;
And hidden guns spat death at them and airmen hovered to kill,
But the Blankety Blanks just opened their ranks and charged an (unnamed) hill.
Half of their number fell on the hill ere they reached the German trench;
Général J——— cried out: "Très bon"; "Not half," said Marshal F———;
An angry Emperor shook his fist and at his legions raved,
And then (the C———r lets me say) the cheery Blankshires shaved.
Général J——— cried out: "Très bon"; "Not half," said Marshal F———;
An angry Emperor shook his fist and at his legions raved,
And then (the C———r lets me say) the cheery Blankshires shaved.
Rally, O rally, ye Blankshire men, rally to fill the gaps;
Seek victories (all unknown to us), bear (well-suppressed) mishaps;
And when you've made a gallant charge and pierced the angry foe
Your names won't get to your people at home, but Buckmaster will know.
Seek victories (all unknown to us), bear (well-suppressed) mishaps;
And when you've made a gallant charge and pierced the angry foe
Your names won't get to your people at home, but Buckmaster will know.