SAPPERS

WHEN the Waters were dried an' the Earth did

appear,

("It's all one," says the Sapper), The Lord He created the Engineer, Her Majesty's Royal Engineer, With the rank and pay of a Sapper!

When the Flood come along for an extra monsoon, 'Twas Noah constructed the first pontoon

To the plans of Her Majesty's, etc.

But after fatigue in the wet an' the sun,

Old Noah got drunk, which he wouldn't ha' done If he'd trained with, etc.

When the Tower o' Babel had mixed up men's bat, Some clever civilian was managing that,

An' none of, etc.

When the Jews had a fight at the foot of a hill,
Young Joshua ordered the sun to stand still,
For he was a Captain of Engineers, etc.

When the Children of Israel made bricks without

straw,

They were learnin' the regular work of our Corps, The work of, etc.

For ever since then, if a war they would wage,
Behold us a-shinin' on history's page-

First page for, etc.

We lay down their sidings an' help 'em entrain, An' we sweep up their mess through the bloomin' campaign,

In the style of, etc.

They send us in front with a fuse an' a mine

To blow up the gates that are rushed by the Line, But bent by, etc.

They send us behind with a pick an' a spade,
To dig for the guns of a bullock-brigade
Which has asked for, etc.

We work under escort in trousers and shirt,
An' the heathen they plug us tail-up in the dirt,
Annoying, etc.

We blast out the rock an' we shovel the mud,

We make 'em good roads an'-they roll down the

khud, Reporting, etc.

We make 'em their bridges, their wells, an' their huts, An' the telegraph-wire the enemy cuts,

An' it's blamed on, etc.

An' when we return, an' from war we would cease, They grudge us adornin' the billets of peace, Which are kept for, etc.

We build 'em nice barracks-they swear they are
bad,

That our Colonels are Methodist, married or mad,
Insultin', etc.

They haven't no manners nor gratitude too,

For the more that we help 'em, the less will they do, But mock at, etc.

Now the Line's but a man with a gun in his hand,
An' Cavalry's only what horses can stand,

When helped by, etc.

Artillery moves by the leave o' the ground,
But we are the men that do something all round,
For we are, etc.

I have stated it plain, an' my argument's thus ("It's all one," says the Sapper),

There's only one Corps which is perfect—that's us; An' they call us Her Majesty's Engineers,

Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,

With the rank and pay of a Sapper!

THAT DAY

IT got beyond all orders an' it got beyond all 'ope; It got to shammin' wounded an' retirin' from the 'alt.

'Ole companies was lookin' for the nearest road to slope;

It were just a bloomin' knock-out-an' our fault!

Now there ain't no chorus 'ere to give,

Nor there ain't no band to play;

An' I wish I was dead 'fore I done what I did,
Or seen what I seed that day!

We was sick o' bein' punished, an' we let 'em know it, too;

An' a company-commander up an' 'it us with a

sword,

An' some one shouted " 'Ook it!" an' it come to sove

ki-poo,

An' we chucked our rifles from us-O my Gawd!

There was thirty dead an' wounded on the ground we wouldn't keep

No, there wasn't more than twenty when the front

begun to go;

But, Christ! along the line o' flight they cut us up like sheep,

An' that was all we gained by doin' so.

I 'eard the knives be'ind me, but I dursn't face my man,

Nor I don't know where I went to, 'cause I didn't

'alt to see,

Till I 'eard a beggar squealin' out for quarter as 'e

ran,

An' I thought I knew the voice an' —it was me!

We was 'idin' under bedsteads more than 'arf a march

away;

We was lyin' up like rabbits all about the countryside;

An' the major cursed 'is Maker 'cause 'e lived to see

that day,

An' the colonel broke 'is sword acrost, an' cried.

We was rotten 'fore we started.

disciplined;

we was never

We made it out a favour if an order was obeyed; Yes, every little drummer 'ad 'is rights an' wrongs to

mind,

So we had to pay for teachin'-an' we paid!