The Band Played Trelawny Lyrics

The Band Played Trelawny

 

The river and fields deep in mist were enclosed

And nowhere was blooming a Picardy rose

They’re over The Somme was the message that came

And now they are firing the barns of Verlaines

And who now will greet them with bayonet and gun?

And who now will fight them in the night of the sun?

And who now is camped in a cutting close by?

Why it’s none but the lads of the D.C.L.I.

 

And the band played Trelawny and the old One and All

Was the chorus they sang as they answered the call

And the men who were asking for one reason why

Were none but the lads of the D.C.L.I.

 

So it’s put down your mess tin and pick up your gun

March into history and get the job done

Just four thousand yards and you’re in the front line

Marching in step with the music of time

It’s a week before Easter and what should we sing?

And who made Trelawny his passion-tide hymn?

But good was his sword and trusty his hand

So singing Trelawny, together we’ll stand

Chorus.

And if the sky darkens about the third hour

Know our examples of far greater power

And if in this life we should stumble and fall

By Tre, Pol and Pen we shall rise to the call

Chorus.

Where poplars stand guard in the land beyond time

And Picardy fields wait for roses to shine

Where mist hugs the quiet (San) Quentin canal

You’ll still hear the voices from Porth and from Bal

 

“And shall Trelawny live or shall Trelawny die?

Here’s twenty-thousand Cornishmen will know the reason why”

Chorus.