Hmmmm..was SURE I'd posted on here again, but seemingly not...

Superb song, Keith, & thanks for the clarification. Its depressing to me how much Military & 'political' re-organisation has swept away so much County/Military tradition...historically so much a part of the British Armys 'strength' & prowess (though taken to an illogical & extremely unfortunate degree in the 'Pals' Battalions of WW1)

(& lest anyone think I'm sounding like too much the 'Militarist' I want to assure people that thats REALLY not the case.....)

Charmion, 'McCaffery' is probably a story worthy of a thread in itself. Based on a true event, it seems like it was so disapproved of by the 'Authorities', that it was still believed, in the years between the 2 World Wars, that to sing it was a Chargeable Offence in the British Army. (& for THAT notion to persist (whether true or not) one dreads to think how fearful those who sang it were, prior to that time).

Thus, I suspect its a song that possibly NEVER appeared in print until modern times (desperately trying to find my copy of the (UK) 1970's paperback 'Songs & Ballads of WW11' where I first encountered it.....a while before I ever heard it sung, on vinyl or live) - which may account for the number of variant forms of it that were found, making it very much a part of the oral tradition, I suppose!

Thats a task I think I may give myself...tracking it all down... as it doesnt seem to be in the Database, or to have any threads on it thus far.....though that might be down to my inability to 'work' this site.....*G*