Soldier Songs and Love Songs by A.H. Laidlaw
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A.H. Laidlaw >> Soldier Songs and Love Songs
SOLDIER SONGS
AND
LOVE SONGS
BY
A.H. LAIDLAW
PRESS OF
WILLIAM R. JENKINS
NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY
A.H. LAIDLAW
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]
Dedicated
TO THE
SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
OF THE
UNITED STATES
THE TWO ARMS OF AMERICAN SALVATION
CONTENTS.
PAGE
1. CUSTER 1
2. THE AMERICAN GIRL 2
3. THE GOOD SHIP "OHIO" 4
4. THE AMERICAN GIRLS 5
5. THE UNION OATH 8
6. BETSIE BROWN 9
7. SWORD OF JEHOVAH 11
8. BLACK EYES 12
9. THE AMERICAN CA IRA 13
10. BIRD OF THE SUMMERING NORTH 16
11. THE WAR SONG OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 17
12. THE LIGHT OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL EYES 19
13. BABYLON 20
14. THE BRITISH GYP 23
15. DEATH SONG OF THE ENFANTS PERDUS 24
16. FARE THEE WELL, O LOVE OF WOMAN 25
17. EVER TO BE 27
18. JOCK AND JEAN 28
19. THE FLAG OF BROTHERS 31
20. WITH A HO-HO-HO! 33
21. SEE, THE FIELD OF BATTLE GLEAMS 34
22. THE DYING SOLDIER TO THE NIGHTINGALE 36
23. BURKE OF THE BRAVE BRIGADE 37
24. TEARS, TEARS 39
25. SHERRY IN THE SADDLE 40
26. HOME, HOME 42
27. THE CUSTER WAIL 43
28. WEEP NOT FOR HIM 46
29. TARRY YE NOT IN EGYPT 47
30. GIF A LASSIE SPURN A LADDIE 49
31. THE AMERICAN CONSUMMATION 50
32. THE YOUNG VETS 52
33. MAIDEN KNICKERBOCKER AND THE GALLANT CAPTAIN PICKWICK 53
34. IT IS TIME TO BEGIN TO CONCLUDE 55
35. MARSHAL NEY'S FAREWELL 57
36. THE LILY LAND OF FRANCE 60
37. THE THREE P'S: THE PRATIE, THE PIG AND POTEEN 61
PREFACE.
In issuing this collection of Songs, the author makes the following
acknowledgments:--
"The American _Ca ira_" was suggested while reading the French song of
that name, from which song the phrase _ca ira_ alone was appropriated.
In "The Song of William the Conqueror," his characteristic oath, "By the
splendor of God!" is used.
In the "Death Song of the Enfants Perdus," a few remembered lines or
fragments have been appropriated from an anonymous and almost forgotten
English ballad.
"Burke of the Brave Brigade" was written in memory of the late Dennis F.
Burke, the last commander of the Irish Brigade in the battle of
Gettysburg.
"The Custer Wail" was composed in a dream, in 1877.
In the last two stanzas of "Marshall Ney's Farewell," his own language
translated is used in nearly half the lines. The first line of this poem
is the expression used by Napoleon, on his voyage to St. Helena, when
sighting the shore of France for the last time.
"The Lily Land of France" was suggested by the French song, "Partant
pour la Syrie," from which nothing was appropriated but the accentual
movement.
Except in the above mentioned instances, the songs here collected were
composed without finding a model or a suggestion in any other writer.
The "Soldier Songs" and the "Love Songs" are printed alternately.
A.H. LAIDLAW.
SONGS
CUSTER.
Foiled on the field with his dead boys around him,
All waiting for Earth to recover her own,
Fortune hath missed him, but Glory hath found him,
While fighting a thousand fierce foemen alone.
Custer's the right wing, the left and the center,
Himself is his only reserve and supply.
This is a battle for Spartans to enter,
Where One makes an army to conquer or die.
Straight on his steed doth he meet the grim battle,
The red line of danger grows deadly and large,
Loud from the hills rings the rifleman's rattle,
But Custer is ready, so forward and charge!
Firing with left hand, and fencing with right,
The reins in his teeth, like a handless young Hun,
What is his fate in the terrible fight?
The thousands hath slain him, yet Custer hath won.
His foemen still seek him in terror and wonder,
Alive in the tempest that darkens the vale;
His charge they still fear in the echoing thunder,
His sword in the lightning, his voice in the gale.
THE AMERICAN GIRL.
The maid for man to love,
All other forms above,
Is she whose home adorns the loam of this fair land of mine:
American in sire,
She's born of love and fire,
And dominates the heart of man as by a right divine.
By rhyming swain pursued,
She meets the puling dude,
Whose hopes to win are centered in his pale Platonic plan;
American in heart,
She spurns his petty part,
Then, speeds him to the army mess to prove himself a man.
With tact burned in the bone,
She stands herself, alone,
The peer of peers of ancient years, for highest functions fit;
American in head
Who woos her, she _may_ wed,
If he hath grace, and wit, and worth, and sense, and soul and grit.
Alive, alert and sweet,
In rounded poise, complete,
Come any day what will or may, she meets the world at par;
American in soul,
She brooks no man's control,
But brings to _one_ a crystal love as stainless as a star.
Who wins, she weds, retains,
She lives, she loves, she reigns
Through home and hall, and over all the sovereign of the scene;
American in dower,
She knows her native power,
And holds the heart of him she loves, a Woman and a Queen.
THE GOOD SHIP "OHIO."
Swift o'er the lee when the wind flies free,
Follows the ship "Ohio,"
With skies o'ercast she bends to the blast,
Like a billowy bird she can fly, O,
And she'll leave all behind in a whispering wind
As soft as a maiden's sigh, O.
Or when o'er the Lakes the storm-cloud breaks,
And the waves scoop their murderous hollow,
While the weaker ship to its mooring must slip
And safe in a harbor wallow,
In the front of the storm she fills her white form,
And the demons of danger follow.
O for the life 'mid the storm and the strife
Of sailor and storm and billow!
Far be my bed from the lubberly dead
That sleep near the wailing willow,
But give me the grave of the mutinous wave
With its heaving and whistling pillow.
Down from the skies look the spectral eyes
Of our kelpie, sprite and bewailer,
And gathering in crowds by the shivering shrouds,
They croon while our cheeks grow paler,
And they sing as they sweep o'er the clamorous deep:
"We love the hot heart of a sailor!"
THE AMERICAN GIRLS.
Yes! The land we love
Is a land of pretty girls,
In grand variety;
With their many colored eyes
And their multi-colored curls,
They'll steal thy heart from thee.
If you travel in the North,
One will gleam in glory forth,
With her blue eyes, O, so blue!
And her flash of golden hair
Will be flirting in the air,
While entrancing all the soul in you.
Oho! My Boy! Oho!
Always for your weal and never for your woe,
Your little heart will gallop on the go,
And it will not give you rest
Within your manly breast,
Till you land yourself in toto at her toe.
Oho! My Boy! Oho!
If you travel in the South,
You will find a rosy mouth,
And a black eye, O so black!
And some strands of raven hair
Will purloin your heart just there,
And you'll never get the poor thing back.
Oho! My Boy! Oho! Etc.
If you travel in the East,
Your dear soul will have a feast
On a sweet eye, O so sweet!
And a most seductive curl
Will there give your heart a twirl
That will fling you at two queenly feet.
Oho! My Boy! Oho! Etc.
If you travel in the West,
One shy glance will pierce your breast
From a bright eye, O so bright!
And an auburn heaven of hair
Will so glorify the air,
You'll surrender all your soul at sight.
Oho! My Boy! Oho!
Always for your weal and never for your woe,
Your little heart will gallop on the go,
And it will not give you rest
Within your manly breast,
Till you land yourself in toto at her toe.
Oho! My Boy! Oho!
Thus, the land we love
Is a land of pretty girls,
In grand variety;
With their many colored eyes
And their multi-colored curls,
They'll steal thy heart from thee.
THE UNION OATH.
By the Revolution's dead,
By their Blood in battle shed,
By the Earth that drank their gore,
By the Heaven in which they soar,
By the Union Stripe and Star,
By the God of Righteous War,
Swear to conquer, or to die!
Swear to conquer,
Swear to conquer,
Swear to conquer _now_, or die!
By the Revolution's dead,
By their Blood in battle shed,
By the Earth that drank their gore,
By the Heaven in which they soar,
By the Union Stripe and Star,
By the God of Righteous War,
We will conquer now, or die!
We will conquer!
We will conquer!
We will conquer _now_, or die!
BETSIE BROWN.
I have loved you all my days,
Betsie Brown,
And I'll never cease to praise
Betsie Brown;
Still must I break love's tie,
To act a patriot part,
But I'll yield thee, as I die,
The last throb of my heart,
Betsie Brown!
For my country let me die,
Betsie Brown,
And never grieve nor cry,
Betsie Brown,
But lay me down to sleep
Where my country's tempests rave,
Where its mountain moss can creep
O'er an humble patriot's grave,
Betsie Brown!
And should my boy, with thee,
Betsie Brown,
By my grave once bend the knee,
Betsie Brown,
Teach him to bleed or die
For his country or his God,
Like him whose ashes lie
Beneath the loving sod,
Betsie Brown!
SWORD OF JEHOVAH.
Sword of Jehovah, swing
O'er the world's ravening,
Wide on the tempest's wing,
Swing far! Swing free!
Where the mailed hand is set,
Braced to the bayonet,
Bloody and warm and wet,
Swing far! Swing free!
Strike where the sordid great
Revel in royal state,
Liberty desolate,
Strike far! Strike free!
Where the King's coursers champ,
Where the mailed millions tramp,
Ringed round the tyrant's camp,
Strike far! Strike free!
Fall where the Kaiser stands,
Guarded by gory bands,
Known by their bloody hands,
Fall far! Fall free!
Till the last Despots die,
Till the Christ, lifted high,
Consummates Destiny,
Fall far! Fall free!
BLACK EYES.
The Blue Eye will do if the courting is through
And the way of the marriage is sunny,
And it helps in the fun till the sweet life is done
If the girl brings a mint of good money.
But when aft or before the good parson's front door,
With calm or a storm on the track;
For Love red, red hot, with the ducats or not,
There is never an eye like the Black.
The Hazel is true to you all the way through,
And it burns with a light warm and steady;
Only if it is Fred that she has in her head,
It is burning for no one but Freddie.
But the Black Eye will veer and stake kingdoms to spear
Whatever it likes on the track,
And as a love-lance to its lord in the dance
There is never an eye like the Black.
Here then is good health and without or with wealth
To the deep raven eye of my charmer!
It's a heavenly spell when it loves very well,
Only when it does not it is warmer.
And it's little I care, only so I get there,
Whichever I find on the track,
For Heaven or Hell in its magical spell
There is never an eye like the Black.
THE AMERICAN CA IRA.
With a sullen, setting Sun,
It will come!
With the days of Despots done,
It will come!
With a sullen, setting Sun,
With the days of Despots done,
With the wrath of God begun,
It will come!
It will come!
With a ruddy, bloody Moon,
It will come!
With remorseless slaughter soon,
It will come!
With a ruddy, bloody Moon,
With remorseless slaughter soon,
With our Tyrants stripped and strewn,
It will come!
It will come!
With a meteoric glare,
It will come!
With Destruction in the air.
It will come!
With a meteoric glare,
With Destruction in the air,
With the vengeance of Despair,
It will come!
It will come!
With abasement of the proud,
It will come!
With the last King's crimson shroud,
It will come!
With abasement of the proud,
With the last King's crimson shroud,
But with Christ within the cloud,
It will come!
It will come!
With the merry Morning Stars,
It will come!
With the end of royal wars,
It will come!
With the merry Morning Stars,
With the end of royal wars,
With the last of scourging Tsars,
It will come!
It will come!
Yea! An angel from the fight,
It will come!
With fair Liberty in light,
It will come!
Yea! An angel from the fight,
With fair Liberty in light,
Linked with Everlasting Right,
It will come!
It will come!
By the Christ who hears our cries,
It will come!
By the Spirit of the Skies,
It will come!
By the Christ who hears our cries,
By the Spirit of the Skies,
By the God who never lies,
It will come!
It will come!
With a place for you and me,
It will come!
At the feastings of the Free,
It will come!
With a place for you and me,
At the feastings of the Free,
With eternal Jubilee,
It will come!
It will come!
BIRD OF THE SUMMERING NORTH.
Bird of the summering North,
Whither away?
Fly you so gaily forth
Simply to stay
Nested in northern bowers
Till the late flushing flowers
Turn in October hours
Ashen and gray?
Bear, then, this message, Dove,
When you depart,
Safe to my northern Love,
Quick! Like a dart!
Bill her and coo her this
Seal of triumphant bliss,
One young, immortal kiss,
Hot from my heart.
Then, in the autumn time,
Tailing the pole,
From my Love's cooling clime
Make me your goal;
Flash to this field of Fame,
Linked with her darling name,
All her concordant flame,
Deep from her soul.
THE WAR SONG OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
_"By the splendor of God!" was a characteristic oath
of William the Conqueror._
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
To fight to the death for Old England's crown,
To reign by God's grace or in gore go down.
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
Sword in hand, by a King who dares
To fight that God and our Right be made
Our Right Divine by a bloody blade,
Sword in hand, by a King who dares,
By a King who dares.
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
In swoop for fierce flesh, like a bird of prey,
In scent of the blood of the brave to-day,
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
Sword in hand, for the Love of God!
Since blood is holy and royal wine,
Advance! Drink health to the Norman line,
Sword in hand, for the Love of God!
For the Love of God!
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
Beware of the shock of the serried rank!
Beware of the brand of the fiery Frank!
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
Sword in hand, by the Grace of God,
We fight till death for Old England's crown,
Till Harold, or We, with our crowns, go down,
Sword in hand, by the Grace of God!
By the Grace of God!
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
To fight to the death for Old England's crown,
To reign by God's grace or in gore go down.
By the splendor of God! We come! We come!
Sword in hand, by a King who dares
To fight that God and our Right be made
Our Right Divine by a bloody blade,
Sword in hand, by a King who dares,
By a King who dares!
THE LIGHT OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL EYES.
As I stroll by the stream where you stray,
A beam is reflected afar,
Which seems, on the waters, a ray--
The ray from a luminous star.
What is it that sweetens my sight,
That lightens the leaf-burthened skies?
What is it, my Love, but the light,--
The light of your beautiful eyes?
As nearer and nearer I roam,
In the month of the rosy-mouthed June,
What is it that throws round your home
The mirage of the mystical moon?
What is it that softens my sight,
That mellows the marvellous skies?
What is it, my Love, but the light,--
The light of your beautiful eyes?
As I gaze on the girl of my love,
My ravishing, radiant one,
There seems to shower light from above,
And I look for the summer-time sun.
What is it that dazzles my sight,
That rivals the roseate skies?
What is it, my Love, but the light,--
The light of your beautiful eyes?
BABYLON.
Thou art mighty,
Babylon!
Thou art haughty,
Babylon!
Haughty, mighty,
Babylon!
Through thy streets the bats shall fly,
O'er thy ruins owls shall cry,
All thy chivalry shall die,
Babylon!
Golden-godded
Babylon!
Idol-cursed
Babylon!
Idol-cursed, golden-godded,
Babylon!
All thy gods shall bite the dust,
All thy golden godlets must
Sink to rottenness and rust,
Babylon!
Thou art royal,
Babylon!
Thou art ancient,
Babylon!
Ancient, royal,
Babylon!
Royal laws and ancient lies
Vanish when the people rise,
Truth must live, but Falsehood dies,
Babylon!
Thou art sensual,
Babylon!
Thou art sotted,
Babylon!
Sotted, sensual,
Babylon!
History this tale will tell,
To the righteous all is well;
Daniel rose, Belshazzar fell,
Babylon!
Thou art bloody,
Babylon!
Thou art cruel,
Babylon!
Cruel, bloody,
Babylon!
Cain's curse on your brow is set,
Bloodstains God will not forget,
And His curse pursues you yet,
Babylon!
Thou art crumbled,
Babylon!
Thou art humbled,
Babylon!
Humbled, crumbled,
Babylon!
Vengeance leaves no gated wall,
Vengeance leaves no gilded hall,
Vengeance blasts and buries all,
Babylon!
THE BRITISH GYP.
That luscious lip, the British Gyp,
I leave to rove, a reckless ranger,
To seek a life, with War for wife,
Defying Death, despising danger;
Yet while I speed from field to field,
Enamored of the stranger's daughter,
I know the best that earth can yield
Are nested by the British water.
Her lithe, blithe form outbraves the storm
That spreads disaster in its shadow,
And when it clears, her form appears
A flower upon the greening meadow;
And if, for fame, you'll have me name
The land of most bewitching daughters,
My heart replies, with softening sighs,
The land begirt by British waters.
Her starry eye lets arrows fly,
That pierce the ice of arctic reason;
The kiss that thrills, the glance that kills,
Make wild the wise and laugh at Treason;
And when, a soldier on parade,
Beyond the bourne of British waters,
My eyes are on the stranger maid,
My heart is with the English daughters.
DEATH SONG OF THE ENFANTS PERDUS.
'Tis here we invade the valley,
Away from the realms of breath,
And, in most successful sally,
We enter the gates of death;
So, stand in the last line steady,
'Tis here our true glory lies;
Hurrah for the dead already!
Three cheers for the next who dies!
Though here, the wet eyes of woman
Will fill with the falling tear,
Yet, facing old Death, our foeman,
We shout our reviving cheer.
Though high beat the hearts we cherish,
The dead we most highly prize:
Hurrah for the first to perish!
Three cheers for the next who dies!
The earth we now leave behind us,
The heavens now beckon before,
Though dust of the dead may blind us,
We march for the shining shore;
No more can our Hope deceive us,
Our heart to it now replies,
Hurrah for the first to leave us!
Three cheers for the next who dies!
FARE THEE WELL, O LOVE OF WOMAN!
Fare thee well, O Love of Woman!
Lip of Beauty, fare thee well!
Thy soft heart, divinely human,
Holds me by a magic spell.
All that grieves me now to perish
Is the loss of one bright eye,
And I still the vision cherish
While I lay me down to die.
At my headstone, kindly kneeling,
May I beg a votive tear?
Woman, with her pure appealing,
Is my angel at the bier.
Let me have but one such linger,
Praying Christ to help and save,
Let me have but one dear finger
Place a chaplet on my grave.
Though the soldier dies in dying,
The true lover never dies;
Upward, from his embers flying,
He transfigures in the skies.
Heaven is rare, but Love is rarer,
Whether it be blest or crost;
Heaven blooms fair, but Love blooms fairer,
But, O God, at what a cost!
Fare thee well, O Love of Woman!
Lip of Beauty, fare thee well!
Thy soft heart, divinely human,
Holds me by a magic spell.
All that grieves me now to perish
Is the loss of one bright eye,
And I still the vision cherish
While I lay me down to die.
EVER TO BE.
Ever to be
Land of the free,
Hold up your banner of light to the eye,
High! High!
Let its folds fly,
Blessing the earth and rejoicing the sky.
Ever to be
Flag of the free,
Long as the earth shows the sight of a slave,
Wave! Wave!
Mighty to save,
Fronting the fight in the eye of the brave.
Ever to be
Light of the free,
Lashed to the palm tree or nailed to the pine,
Shine! Shine!
Liberty's sign,
Lighting the human to find the Divine.
JOCK AND JEAN.
JOCK.
O'er the deep wi' me, lassie,
Will you, will you?
Sail the sounding sea, lassie,
Will you, will you?
Where the Sacramento flows,
'Twixt the peaks of sifted snows,
Past the fadeless Southron rose,
Sweeter than the heather-blows,
Lassie, lassie?
JEAN.
O'er the deep wi' thee, laddie,
Will I, will I,
Sail the sounding sea, laddie,
Will I, will I,
Whether rivers fail or flow,
Whether roses blanch or blow,
Where thou goest, I will go,
As your loving Jean, my Jo,
Laddie, laddie!
JOCK.
O'er the deep wi' me, lassie,
Will you, will you?
Sail the sounding sea, lassie,
Will you, will you?
Where the mountains, crowned with pine,
Dipping to the western brine,
Shade, with everlasting vine,
Golden grape and countless kine,
Lassie, lassie?
JEAN.
O'er the deep wi' thee, laddie,
Will I, will I,
Sail the sounding sea, laddie,
Will I, will I,
Whether mountains dip or bear
Heavenward through our future air,
Princely feast or peasant fare,
What thou darest, I will dare,
Laddie, laddie!
JOCK.
O'er the deep wi' me, lassie,
Will you, will you?
Sail the sounding sea, lassie,
Will you, will you?
Where the lambies, on the braes,
Gambol in the golden haze,
And the solar disc delays
Heaven throughout the happy days,
Lassie, lassie?
JEAN.
O'er the deep wi' thee, laddie,
Will I, will I,
Sail the sounding sea, laddie,
Will I, will I,
Wheresoe'er thy feet delay,
Drenched in rain or golden spray,
To the end of life's long day,
I will love thee as I say,
Laddie, laddie!
JOCK AND JEAN.
O'er the deep wi' thee, dearie,
Will I, will I,
Sail the sounding sea, dearie,
Will I, will I,
'Neath the starred or starless sky,
Heaven is where the heart beats high,
With a love that cannot die;
So we wander, you and I,
Dearie, dearie!
THE FLAG OF BROTHERS.
There is blood upon the Banner, the Banner of the Free,
There is blood upon _our_ Banner, and it lies 'twixt you and me,
And, like the blood of Abel, it crieth from the sod,
And it crieth unto God throughout the Morning.
There's a blot upon the Banner, the Banner of the Free,
There's a blot upon _our_ Banner, and it lies 'twixt you and me,
And, like the soul of Samuel, it riseth from the clod,
And it crieth unto God throughout the Nooning.
There's a curse upon the Banner, the Banner of the Free,
There's a curse upon _our_ Banner, and it lies 'twixt you and me,
And, like the curse of Cain, it scars our brows with pain,
And it sears a Brother's brain throughout the E'ening.
May the Lord now bleach this Banner, the Banner of the Free,
And keep that Banner floating as a pledge 'twixt you and me,
And, like the eyes of Noah, as the Flood of Blood flies from us,
May we see the Bow of Promise in the Morning.
Our Banner, then, unsullied, this Banner of the Free,
Will be a Brother's Banner, held up by you and me,
And, like a Christian people, as example unto others,
We will wave the Flag of Brothers on that Morning.
WITH A HO-HO-HO! AND A HI-HI-HI!
With a ho-ho-ho! and a hi-hi-hi!
With a canzonet and tabor,
Thus, with ho-ho-ho! and our hi-hi-hi!
We amble, ramble, gambol, I
And my lily-fingered neighbor.