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 -- we was never disciplined;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!
The papers 'id it 'andsome, but you know the Army knows;We was put to groomin' camels till the regiments withdrew, An' they gave us each a medal for subduin' England's foes, An' I 'ope you like my song -- because it's true!
An' there ain't no chorus 'ere to give, Nor there ain't no band to play;But I wish I was dead 'fore I done what I did, Or seen what I seed that day!
'The Men that fought at Minden'
