 | Contributions to a Ballad History of England and the States Sprung from Her |  |
77
CORPORAL JOHN,
HIS SOLDIERS' OWN NAME FOR THE Duke of Marlborough. 1711.
Do'nt talk of Schomberg and such to me;
Noll and King William they might be queer
To deal with, but he'd have beat them all three,
Lord! as easy as I'm taking off this beer;
All along I was with him, and I should know,
And I tell you, my boys, the sun never shone
On one that has led a charge here below
That was fit to be named with Corporal John.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
Noll and King William they might be queer
To deal with, but he'd have beat them all three,
Lord! as easy as I'm taking off this beer;
All along I was with him, and I should know,
And I tell you, my boys, the sun never shone
On one that has led a charge here below
That was fit to be named with Corporal John.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
At Maestricht's siege I saw him first;
Mynheer fought well and 'twas hard to win;
Monsieur had stormed, but he'd got the worst;
He'd tried right hard, but he couldn't get in;
But Corporal John, he up, with us, there,
And our flag, the breach, he planted upon;
A mine they sprung, but what did he care?
He budged not a foot, did Corporal John.
Oh he was one that always would win
Whatever it was he ventured upon;
Dutchmen or French, didn't matter a pin;
He always beat all, did Corporal John.
Mynheer fought well and 'twas hard to win;
Monsieur had stormed, but he'd got the worst;
He'd tried right hard, but he couldn't get in;
But Corporal John, he up, with us, there,
And our flag, the breach, he planted upon;
A mine they sprung, but what did he care?
He budged not a foot, did Corporal John.
Oh he was one that always would win
Whatever it was he ventured upon;
Dutchmen or French, didn't matter a pin;
He always beat all, did Corporal John.
78
Next with the Frenchmen the game we played,
And now 'twas our Corporal held command,
And with Duke and Marshal rare sport he made;
He played the devil with Louis the Grand;
Burgundy vapoured and Tallard swore;
Boufflers gave us a distant look;
He gave us a look, but he didn't do more,
So our Corporal won, and Liege we took.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
And now 'twas our Corporal held command,
And with Duke and Marshal rare sport he made;
He played the devil with Louis the Grand;
Burgundy vapoured and Tallard swore;
Boufflers gave us a distant look;
He gave us a look, but he didn't do more,
So our Corporal won, and Liege we took.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
Bonn, Guelders and Huy, they fell next year,
But, of these, our Corporal didn't think much;
He longed to fight; Villeroi he got near,
But they wouldn't let him, those sleepy Dutch;
Our famousest fight came next, but first,
Over the Schellenberg's heights we stormed,
Into Bavaria fierce we burst
And the cursing boors with their roofs' flames warmed.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat,
For all who fought under Corporal John.
But, of these, our Corporal didn't think much;
He longed to fight; Villeroi he got near,
But they wouldn't let him, those sleepy Dutch;
Our famousest fight came next, but first,
Over the Schellenberg's heights we stormed,
Into Bavaria fierce we burst
And the cursing boors with their roofs' flames warmed.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat,
For all who fought under Corporal John.
August the thirteenth, mark it well!
That was our Corporal's grandest day,
When through marsh and stream and the fire of hell,
Through the Frenchmen's centre we burst our way.
It took us, to do it, from noon to night,
But it was worth doing and well 'twas done;
Thirty thousand it cost them, that Blenheim fight,
And Tallard himself and many a gun.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
That was our Corporal's grandest day,
When through marsh and stream and the fire of hell,
Through the Frenchmen's centre we burst our way.
It took us, to do it, from noon to night,
But it was worth doing and well 'twas done;
Thirty thousand it cost them, that Blenheim fight,
And Tallard himself and many a gun.
79
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
Villeroi next from Liege we scared;
He hankered to have it: we couldn't consent;
We offered him fight; for his bones he cared;
Our Corporal came, and the Marshal went;
Villeroi ditched and Villeroi dug,
But one night, in the fog, his ditches we crossed,
Behind fort and rampart he thought himself snug,
But we thundered in and his lines he lost.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
He hankered to have it: we couldn't consent;
We offered him fight; for his bones he cared;
Our Corporal came, and the Marshal went;
Villeroi ditched and Villeroi dug,
But one night, in the fog, his ditches we crossed,
Behind fort and rampart he thought himself snug,
But we thundered in and his lines he lost.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
Then May, good luck and Ramilies, brought,
At Ottomond's tomb, by the red Mehaigne;
To slaughter our Corporal, Villeroi thought,
But the French and their Marshal we threshed again;
Eighty standards and every gun
Our Corporal took that glorious day,
And, with it, the whole of Brabant, we won,
And Louis, from Flanders, he slunk away.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
At Ottomond's tomb, by the red Mehaigne;
To slaughter our Corporal, Villeroi thought,
But the French and their Marshal we threshed again;
Eighty standards and every gun
Our Corporal took that glorious day,
And, with it, the whole of Brabant, we won,
And Louis, from Flanders, he slunk away.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
Next year we did nothing: then came July
When they played us three Dukes and we trumped each card;
To see Vendôme and his Princelings fly
Was pleasant, I swear, at Oudenarde;
Now came an Autumn of trench and storm;
Lille was strong, and the French fought well;
Three months it took and the work was warm,
In mine and breach, before that it fell.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
When they played us three Dukes and we trumped each card;
To see Vendôme and his Princelings fly
Was pleasant, I swear, at Oudenarde;
80
Lille was strong, and the French fought well;
Three months it took and the work was warm,
In mine and breach, before that it fell.
Oh Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
At last came our Corporal's bloodiest day;
That was his latest and fiercest fight,
When blood ran in rivers at Malplaquet,
In Tasnière's wood and on Bossou's height.
Of course, we know, battles, they must be fought;
So, for all that comes with them, they're fools who care;
Yet, pah! even now how it sickens my thought
To think of the slaughter that went on there!
Ah Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
That was his latest and fiercest fight,
When blood ran in rivers at Malplaquet,
In Tasnière's wood and on Bossou's height.
Of course, we know, battles, they must be fought;
So, for all that comes with them, they're fools who care;
Yet, pah! even now how it sickens my thought
To think of the slaughter that went on there!
Ah Corporal John always fought to beat;
He was the one you could reckon upon;
There was glory and plunder, but never retreat
For all who fought under Corporal John.
| Contributions to a Ballad History of England and the States Sprung from Her | |