Ballads of the War :: :: University of Virginia Library

He's an absent-minded beggar—that's no reason we should take
Advantage of poor Tommy's absent mind,
Blow him up with pies, at parting, till his belt begins to break,
Fill him full of parting-liquor till he's blind.

He's an absent-minded beggar, but he's going over sea
To do the solemn thing he's got to do,
To pound away at Kruger and the Boers for you and me,
And to give his life for Queen and country too.

He's an absent-minded beggar—then why hand him three months' pay
Just to fool away in drinking ere he goes;
Keep his pay! and give him baccy for a pipe upon the way!
And send him brave but sober on his foes.

We are absent-minded beggars—if we feel a twinge of shame
As we see Reservists rolling down the street,
Please remember in our kindness we were cruel all the same
When we stood the absent-minded beggar treat.

[Extract from the letter of the Bishop of Chester in the Chester Courant, January 3, 1900:

OUR DEPARTING RESERVISTS—MISTAKEN HOSPITALITY.

“Sir,—May I be allowed to express what I know to be the strong and widely felt regret that, through a well-meant but most cruel kindness, our Reservists are being tempted at the solemn and touching hour of farewell to become the victims of drink? We all honour the Reservists for their splendid patriotism. We are all resolved, not only to look after their wives and families during their absence, but to provide them with wholesome comforts for their start and journey. Our Mayor is giving us the lead, but the scenes of excess due to illjudged hospitality which have been heard of in other cities and which are, I fear, not unknown in Chester, shock, and ought to shock, the public conscience. It is a most unhallowed and ill-omened beginning of what is in itself a noble enterprise. The responsibility lies at the door, not of the military authorities, who detest the whole thing, but partly at least at the doors of mistaken friends and admirers. In the earnest hope that sympathy and admiration may take a more manly and Godly shape, and that the Reservists themselves may shew that they have moral as well as physical courage, I have the honour to remain, your obedient servant,

“F. J. Cestr. “The Palace, Chester, January 2, 1900.”

N.B.—By the Service regulations the Reservists are allowed to withdraw the balance of their reserve-pay, which usually amounts to about & £3, at the moment of mobilisation and departure. This is questionable wisdom.]