Between the Lines - Issue Eleven

This article contains songs relating to the First World War. The folk songs and parodies sung by the diggers in WW1 are a remarkable insight into both the role of singing as a means of coping with extreme situations, and the character of the soldiers themselves. My partner Chloe and I have recently released a CD of such songs (‘The Riderless Horse – An Australian Impression of WW1’ – Chloe & Jason Roweth) and the process of researching, arranging and compiling the material has been extremely educational, emotional and inspiring. Here are some of my favourites…

Hiding in the Ammunition Van
I learned this song from the singing of Maysie Tucker of Salt Ash, NSW. Maysie picked the song up from her Dad, who had sung the song in both the Anglo-Boer War and World War 1, with the words changed subtly to suit.

Have I been in battle? Have I been in gaol?
Did I die for England? Listen to my tale.
One good Friday Tuesday, down in Timbuc-three,
I was with my regiment, I was there with me.

Me and three more corporals ‘neath the broiling sun
Went to view the battle - after it was won.
Twenty thousand Frenchmen raised the battle cry,
But while the boys were fighting, where, oh where was I?

I was hiding in the ammunition van!
Midst the shot and shell I’ve been,
While me comrades fought as comrades ought,
I was nowhere to be seen.

I was covered over with the flag
Listening to the din and strife,
And when the war was o’er, out once more,
And that’s how I saved my life!

Dinky Di
Pointed song sung to the popular music-hall tune known as ‘Villikins and His Dinah’, ‘Sweet Betsy from Pike’, ‘Charlotte the Harlot’ and many other names! I learned this song from John Dengate.

Well he came down to London and straight away strode
To army headquarters in Horseferry Road
To see all the bludgers who dodge all the straff
By getting soft jobs on the headquarters’ staff.

chorus
Dinky di, dinky di, for I am a digger who won’t tell a lie.

Well, the lousy Lance Corporal said, “Pardon me, please,
You’ve mud on your tunic and blood on your sleeve,
And you look so disgraceful that people will laugh.”
Said the lousy Lance Corporal on headquarters’ staff.

The digger just shot him – a murderous glance,
Said he, “I’m just back from the balls-up in France,
Where whiz-bangs are flying and comforts are few
And brave men are dying for bastards like you!”

“We’re shelled on the left and we’re shelled on the right
We’re bombed through the day and we’re bombed through the night;
And if something don’t happen – and that very soon –
There’ll be nobody left in the flamin’ platoon!”

Well, the question soon came to the ears of Lord Gort
Who gave the whole matter a good deal of thought;
He awarded that digger a VC with bars
For giving that Corporal a kick up the arse.
Dinky di, dinky di, for I am a digger who won’t tell a lie.

The Banks of the Murray
This version comes from the singing of Neville Drysdale who learned the song while working in the shearing sheds of central NSW. In order to complete the song I have also included a few words from a version by Alan Musgrove, from his terrific CD ‘A Young Man & Able’.

In a neat little cot on the banks of the Murray,
Lived the wife of a soldier with children so poor.
Their father left home with a gun on his shoulder
To sail by a transport to Egypt’s bright shores.

And these were the words that were uttered when parting,
“Goodbye my mother, goodbye my son,
And kiss little Daisy, my dear darling daughter,
And say I’ll return when the battle is won”.

The transport sailed on to the thick of the slaughter,
And landed our boys at the thick of the fray.
Our hero was shot at the Dardanelles battle,
And mortally wounded and dying did say.

“Give this watch to my dear darling mother,
Give little Daisy my locket and chain,
And the rest you may give to my dear wife and brother,
For God has denied me to see them again”.

The scenery has changed in that neat little cottage;
A mother sits rocking a baby just born.
And a grey headed woman is weeping and wailing
For the son she loved dearly shall never return.

And poor little Daisy keeps asking for poppa,
And she waits every evening outside the front door.
Her poor aging mother says, rocking and moaning,
“Dear Daisy your father was killed in the war”

More Parodies…

Long Way to Riverina
Parody to the marching song ‘Long Way to Tipperary’.
Words and Music by Jack Judge & Harry Williams (1912).

It’s a long way to Riverina, it’s a long way to go.
It’s a long way to Riverina, to the sweetest girl I know.
Goodbye Wagga Wagga, Farewell dear old Hay
It’s a long, long way to Riverina - but we’ll get there some day.

Fighting the Kaiser
Parody of Waltzing Matilda.

Fighting the Kaiser, fighting the Kaiser,
Who’ll come a-fighting the Kaiser with me,
And we’ll drink all his beer, and eat up all his sausages,
Who’ll come a-fighting the Kaiser with me.

Ragtime Army
Parody by unknown author(s), to a hymn ‘The Church’s One Foundation’, words: Samuel J. Stone (1866), music ‘Aurelia’ by Samuel S. Wesley (1864).

We are the Ragtime Army, the A-N-Z-A-C.
We cannot shoot. We don’t salute.
What bloody use are we?
And when we get to Berlin,
The Kaiser he will say,
“Mein Gott, mein Gott, what a bloody rotten lot, the A-N-Z-A-C!”
Note: Alternate last line: “Hoch, hoch! Mein Gott, What a bloody odd lot, to get 6 bob a day!”
Take me Back to Dear Old Aussie
Parody of ‘Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty’.
Original words and music by A. J. Mills, F. Godfrey and B. Scott (1916).
Take me back to dear old Aussie, put me on a boat to Sydney town,
Take me over there, dump me anywhere,
Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, well I don’t care.
I just want to see my best girl; cuddling again we soon shall be.
Blighty is a failure; take me to Australia, Aussie is the place for me.