Their seeming sense of safety,
The Teutons did elate,
And all were glibly chanting
The Kaiser’s hymn of hate,
When, lo! the pibroch’s skirling
Their first line did astound
And Donald, Rod and Angus
Came on them with a bound.
And ere they had recovered
From their astonishment
The foremost of their gleemen
To sing elsewhere were sent;
And midst the cry of Kam’rade
In broken English spoke,
Both Prussian and Bavarian
Went down from bayonet stroke.
And furious was the struggle,
’Twixt Highlander and Hun,
For hand to hand the fighting
On Vimy Ridge was done.
The shock troops of the Kaiser,
And all his proud array,
Fled fast before the Bluenose
On that eventful day.
And when the war is over,
And peace again is come,
We’ll give our gallant laddies
A highland welcome home;
With flags and banners waving,
With singing and with cheer,
We’ll celebrate the glory
Of Vimy day each year.
GOD SAVE OUR EMPIRE GREAT.
God save our empire great,
And to her board of state,
Wise Counsel bring;
May we in union free,
Mother and daughters be,
Ever one family:
God save the king.
Grant that there will arise,
Beneath Canadian skies,
Freedom’s offspring;
May we be always free,
From hate and bigotry,
Co-heirs of liberty:
God save the king.
THE VETERAN
A veteran too was there with shoulders broad
As is the marsh in Amherst’s neighborhood;
Of stature high and of a kingly stride,
And in his face there shone a noble pride.
His eyes bespoke a soul to never yield
In fair fought fight at home or battle field.
A civic man before the war began
And since its end again a civic man.
Beloved by all his comrades, young and old,
For wise decisions and for action bold;
His head was cool but kindly was his heart,
In every act of war he did his part—
In digging in to use the lowly spade,
In battle field to wield the bloody blade,
In trench, in rest, to eat the soldiers’ fare,
A man of manly breed, his wounds to bear.
Three years he served where colored poppies grow
Between the wooden “crosses, row on row,”
Observing all, so well could tell a tale
of Bourlon Wood or bloody Pachendaele.