"BACK TO THE ARMY AGAIN"

I'M 'ere in a ticky ulster an' a broken billycock 'at,

A-layin' on to the sergeant I don't know a gun from a bat; My shirt's doin' duty for jacket, my sock's stickin' out o' my boots,

An' I'm learnin' the damned old goose-step along o' the new recruits!

Back to the Army again, sergeant,

Back to the Army again.

Don't look so 'ard, for I 'aven't no card,

I'm back to the Army again!

I done my six years' service. 'Er Majesty sez: "Good dayYou'll please to come when you 're rung for, an' 'ere's your 'ole back-pay;

An' four-pence a day for baccy - an' bloomin' gen'rous, too; An' now you can make your fortune the same as your orf'cers do."

Back to the Army again, sergeant,

Back to the Army again;

'Ow did I learn to do right-about turn?
I'm back to the Army again!

A man o' four-an'-twenty that 'as n't learned of a trade-
Beside "Reserve" agin' him-'e'd better be never made.
I tried my luck for a quarter, an' that was enough for me,
An' I thought of 'Er Majesty's barricks, an' I thought I'd

go

an' see.

Back to the Army again, sergeant,

Back to the Army again;

'Tis n't my fault if I dress when I 'alt
I'm back to the Army again!

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The sergeant arst no questions, but 'e winked the other eye, 'E sez to me, 'Shun!" an' I shunted, the same as in days gone by;

For 'e saw the set o' my shoulders, an' I could n't 'elp 'oldin'

straight

When me an' the other rookies come under the barrick gate.

Back to the Army again, sergeant,

Back to the Army again;

'Oo would ha' thought I could carry an' port?
I'm back to the Army again!

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

drill

the feet o' the men what

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 troopship 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,

me dead,

"Strike

But I thought you was used to the business!" an' so 'e done

what I said.

Rather too free with my fancies? Wot

I'm back to the Army again!

me?

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!

(Troops for Foreign Service)

ARCH! 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,

'll never see your soldiers any

more!

"SOLDIER AN' SAILOR TOO"

(Royal Regiment of Marines)

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 scrapin' the paint from off of 'er plates, an' I sez to 'im, ""Oo are you?"

66

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 is n't one o' the reg'lar Line, nor 'e is n'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 is n'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.