{"id":21417,"date":"2023-06-16T05:56:55","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T05:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=21417"},"modified":"2023-06-18T05:34:17","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T05:34:17","slug":"doing-my-duty","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/doing-my-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"Doing my duty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
First Published<\/td>1898<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>AJ Mills and FW Carter<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN21227<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Frank Coyne<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Cobbin, Ted; England : Suffolk; 1975
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Lyrics and associated notes from the sleevenotes for  A Story to Tell: Keith Summers in Suffolk 1972-79 (MTCD339-0),\n\nTed Cobbin: The Crown, Great Glemham 1975<\/strong>\n\n[Spoken] The old song I'm going to sing is one I learnt from my cousin, Ross Egan. He learned it from an old pal of his right back in the Boer War, when he was a youngster with the RAMC. And I learned it from him a'singing that in the Crown here - Great Glemham.\n\n\nNow can England be in danger,\nIs there any chance of war?\nYou talk about your fighting men\nAnd your Quifer (?) gunner corps.\nYou talk about your Wellingtons\nThat fought at Waterloo,\nBut how about your humble\nOn the field of Pinky-Poo?\n\nYes. I was doing my duty. A doing my duty.\nWhen the bullets were flying as thick as the mud.\nI was shedding my drops of blood,\nFighting with the corporal in the ammunition van.\nYes, I was doing my duty like a soldier and a man.<\/em>\n\nNow you think when under canvas\nWhat a pleasant time was spent,\nEspecially when there's fifty of you\nBunged into a tent.\nThere's a dozen pairs of Bluchers,\nLaying all around.\nBut what a rush for Keatings \nWhen the enemy he is found.\n\nYes. I'll be doing my duty. A doing my duty.\nSoon as ever a flea pop out his head.\nI'd give him a bash with a loaf of bread.\nAnd then the blooming tent was like the battle of Sudan\nFor I was doing my duty like a soldier and a man.<\/em>\n\nNow every Sunday night when I go out,\nWith my best tunic dress,\nA tuppeny cigar is in my mouth\nAnd a loaf stuck up my chest.\nI'm chasing bits of calico as soon as it get dark\nBut I've always got my eye upon the benches in the park.\n\nYes. I'll be doing my duty. A doing my duty.\nA swinging my regimental stick,\nMaking myself look a bit thick,\nAnd when the moon is out of sight,\nWith Flo and Mary-Ann\nOh I'll be doing my duty like a soldier and a man.\n<\/em>\n\n[Bluchers - A leather laced up half-boot; so called after Field-Marshal von Blucher (1742-1819) and notoriously uncomfortable.]\n[Keating's - Keating's Flea Powder.]\n\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A song from the repertoire of Frank Coyne<\/a>. It was written by the alarmingly prolific AJ Mills<\/a> with FW Carter <\/a>and was a hit in 1898\/99 in the Halls and pantomimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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London and Provincial Entr’acte – Saturday 06 August 1898<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Era – Saturday 23 September 1899<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The song was remembered by at least one traditional singer in the 1970s, when it was collected from the singing of Ted Cobbin by Keith Summers, who transcribed the lyrics and wrote the associated sleeve notes given above. The recording can be heard at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n