THE SAPPER

 SAPPERS

Royal Engineers

When the waters were dried an' the Earth did appear,

("it's all one", says the Sapper),
the Lord He created the Engineer,
Her Majesty's Royal Engineer,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


When the flood came along for an extra monsoon,
Twas Noah constructed the first pontoon
To the plans of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


But after fatigue in the wet an' the sun,
Old Noah got drunk, which he wouldn't ha' done
If he'd trained with Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


When the Tower o' Babel had mixed up mens' bat',
Some clever civilian was managing that,
An' none of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


When the Jews had a fight at the foot of a hill,
Young Joshua ordered the sun to stand still,
For he was a Captain of Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


When the children of Israel makes bricks without straw,
They were learnin' the regular work of our Corps,
The work of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


For ever since then, if a war they would wage,
Behold us a-shinin' on histor's page-
First page for Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


We lay down their sidings on' help "em entrain,
An' we sweep up their mess through the bloomin' campaign
In the style of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


They send us in front with a fuse an' a mine
To blow up the gates that are rushed by the line,
But bent by Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


They send us behind with a pick an' a spade.
to dig for the guns of a bullock-brigade
Which has asked for Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


We work under escort in the trousers and shirt,
An' the heathen they plug us tail-up in the dirt,
Annoying Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


We blast out the rock an' we shovel the mud,
We make 'em good roads on' - they roll down the khud,
Reporting Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


We make 'em their bridges, their wells, an' their huts,
An' the telegraph wire the enemy cuts,
An' it's blamed on Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


An' when we return, an' from war we would cease,
They grudge us adornin' the billets of peace,
Which are kept for Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


We build 'em nice barracks - they swear they are bad,
That our Colonels are Methodist, married ar mad,
Insulting' Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


They haven't no manners nor gratitude too,
For the more that we help 'em, the less will they do,
But mock at Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


Now the Line's but a man with a gun in is hand,
An' Cavalry's only what horses can stand,
When helped by Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


Artillery moves by the leave o' the ground,
But we are the men that do something all round,
For we are Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!


I have stated it plain, an' my argument's thus
("it's all one" says the Sapper)
There's only one Corps which is perfect - that's us;
An' they call us Her Majesty's Engineers,
Her Majest's ROYAL ENGINEERS,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!

To Acknowledgment's