THE SAPPER
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 pay of a Sapper!
When the flood comes along for an extra monsoon,
'Twas Noah constructed the first Pontoon,
To the plans of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
But after fatique 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 pay of a Sapper!
When the Tower o' Babel has mixed up men's bat,
Some clever civilian was managing that,
An' none of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and 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 Engineers,
Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
When the children of Israel made bricks without straw,
They were learnin' the regular works of our Corps,
The work of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
For ever since then, if a war they would wage,
Behold us a - shinin' on history's page-
First page for Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
We lay down their sidings an' help 'em entrain'
An' we sweep up their mess through the bloomin' campaign,
In the style of Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With rank and 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 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 Engineer,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
We work under escort in trousers and shirt,
An' the heathen they plug us tail-up in the dirt,
Annoying Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank pay of a Sapper!
We blast out the rock an' we shovel the mud,
We make 'em good roads an' - they roll down the Khud,
Reporting Her Majesty's Royal Egineers,
With the rank and 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 pay of a Sapper!
An' when we return, an' from war we would cease,
They grudge us adornin' billets of peace,
Which are kept for Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and pay of a Sapper!
We build 'em nice barracks- they swear they are bad,
That our Colonels are Methodist, married or mad,
Insultin' Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With rank and pay of a Sapper!
They haven't no manners nor gratitude too,
For the more that we help 'em the less they will do,
But mock at Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With rank and pay of a Sapper!
Now the Lines but a man with a gun in his hand,
An' Cavalry's only what horses can stand,
When helped by Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With rank and 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 rank and pay of a Sapper!
I have stated it plain an' my arguments thus
("It's all one", says the Sapper)
There's only one Corps which is perfect - thats us,
An' they call us Her Majesty's Royal Engineers,
With the rank and the pay of a Sapper!
