Doing my duty

Lyrics and associated notes from the sleevenotes for  A Story to Tell: Keith Summers in Suffolk 1972-79 (MTCD339-0),

Ted Cobbin: The Crown, Great Glemham 1975

[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.


Now can England be in danger,
Is there any chance of war?
You talk about your fighting men
And your Quifer (?) gunner corps.
You talk about your Wellingtons
That fought at Waterloo,
But how about your humble
On the field of Pinky-Poo?

Yes. I was doing my duty. A doing my duty.
When the bullets were flying as thick as the mud.
I was shedding my drops of blood,
Fighting with the corporal in the ammunition van.
Yes, I was doing my duty like a soldier and a man.

Now you think when under canvas
What a pleasant time was spent,
Especially when there's fifty of you
Bunged into a tent.
There's a dozen pairs of Bluchers,
Laying all around.
But what a rush for Keatings 
When the enemy he is found.

Yes. I'll be doing my duty. A doing my duty.
Soon as ever a flea pop out his head.
I'd give him a bash with a loaf of bread.
And then the blooming tent was like the battle of Sudan
For I was doing my duty like a soldier and a man.

Now every Sunday night when I go out,
With my best tunic dress,
A tuppeny cigar is in my mouth
And a loaf stuck up my chest.
I'm chasing bits of calico as soon as it get dark
But I've always got my eye upon the benches in the park.

Yes. I'll be doing my duty. A doing my duty.
A swinging my regimental stick,
Making myself look a bit thick,
And when the moon is out of sight,
With Flo and Mary-Ann
Oh I'll be doing my duty like a soldier and a man.


[Bluchers - A leather laced up half-boot; so called after Field-Marshal von Blucher (1742-1819) and notoriously uncomfortable.]
[Keating's - Keating's Flea Powder.]