In honor of the 100th anniversary Veterans Day and those who fought...

[FailureToCommunicate]

"Christmas In the Trenches" by John McCutcheon

[FailureToCommunicate]

1. And this song was penned for the widows of that 'war to end all wars'...

Here is an a capella version:

It's fifty long springtimes since she was a bride,
But still you may see her at each Whitsuntide
In a dress of white linen with ribbons of green,
As green as her memories of loving.

The feet that were nimble tread carefully now,
As gentle a measure as age will allow,
Through groves of white blossoms, by fields of young corn,
Where once she was pledged to her true love.

The fields they stand empty, the hedges grow free--
No young men to turn them, our pastures go seed
They are gone where the forests of oak trees before
Have gone, to be wasted in battle.

Down from the green farmlands and from their loved ones
Marched husbands and brothers and fathers and sons.
There's a fine roll of honor where the Maypole once stood,
And the ladies go dancing at Whitsun.

There's a straight row of houses in these latter days
All covering the downs where the sheep used to graze.
There's a field of red poppies, a wreath from the Queen
But the ladies remember at Whitsun,
And the ladies go dancing at Whitsun.


Songwriter: John Austin Marshall

[kag]

2. Beautiful. Thanks for posting.

I love the story about the soldiers coming to the festival to hear that song.

I could tell the song was written by an American, and not a soldier from Liverpool. A Brit would have called it "football" not "soccer."

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. Yes, good catch! I'd sung that song for years and never noticed that.

We had three people speak in church this morning whose grandfathers had been in WWI, two had died there and one who was present near Compiègne, France, the signing of the Armistice.