[youtube UyiLfSHSqds 555 333]
\nWell, how do you do Private William McBride?
\nDo you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?
\nAnd rest for awhile neath the warm summer sun
\nI’ve been walking all day, and I’m nearly done<\/p>\n
And I see by your gravestone, you’re only nineteen
\nWhen you joined the great fallen in nineteen sixteen
\nWell I hope you died quickly, I hope you died clean
\nOr poor Willy Mcbride, was it slow and obscene?<\/p>\n
Did they beat the drums slowly?
\nDid they play the pipes lowly?
\nDid they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
\nAnd did the band play ‘The Last Post’ in chorus?
\nDid the pipes play ‘The Flowers Of The Forest’?<\/p>\n
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind?
\nIn some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
\nAnd though you died back in nineteen-sixteen
\nIn that faithful heart are you always nineteen?<\/p>\n
Or are you a stranger without a name?
\nForever enshrined behind some glass pane
\nIn an old photograph, torn and tattered, and stained.
\nAnd faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.<\/p>\n
Did they beat the drums slowly?
\nDid they play the pipes lowly?
\nDid they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
\nAnd did the band play ‘The Last Post’ in chorus?
\nDid the pipes play ‘The Flowers Of The Forest’?<\/p>\n
Well the sun’s shining down on these green fields of France
\nThe warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance
\nThe trenches have vanished long under the plow
\nThere’s no gas, no barb wire, there’s no guns firing now<\/p>\n
But here in this graveyard that’s still no-man’s land
\nThe countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
\nTo man’s blind indifference to his fellow man
\nThe whole generation was butchered and damned<\/p>\n
Did they beat the drums slowly?
\nDid they play the pipes lowly?
\nDid they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
\nAnd did the band play ‘The Last Post’ in chorus?
\nDid the pipes play ‘The Flowers Of The Forest’?<\/p>\n
And I can’t help but wonder young Willy McBride
\nDo those that lie here know why that they died?
\nAnd did they really believe you when you told them the cause
\nDid they really believe that this war would end wars?<\/p>\n
Well the suffering, and the sorrow, the glory of pain
\nThe killing and dying they were all done in vain
\nFor young Willy McBride it’s all happened again,
\nAnd again, and again, and again, and again…<\/p>\n
Did they beat the drums slowly?
\nDid they play the pipes lowly?
\nDid they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
\nAnd did the band play ‘The Last Post’ in chorus?
\nDid the pipes play ‘The Flowers Of The Forest’?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Green Fields of France is, in contrast with The Band Played Walzing Mathilda, which is also written by Eric Bogle, commonly recognised as anti-war song. Until present times this song, in our opinion a very successful illustration of the meaningless absurdity of war, is quite popular in Ireland. Perhaps its popularity is an expression of the ambiguous attitude of the Irish regarding the First World War.<\/p>\n Eric Bogle wrote this song after he had visited a military cemetery in France. As you might know the First World War was the last real trench war and in France and Belgium battles could last weeks or months without any progress. The term No Man’s Land refers to the area of ground between opposing armies. The term is widely used in relation with the First World War, although it originates from the fourteenth century. The Last Post and The Flowers of the Forrest are compositions associated with the final farewell. [youtube UyiLfSHSqds 555 333] Well, how do you do Private William McBride? Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside? And rest for awhile neath the warm summer sun I’ve been walking all day, and I’m nearly done And I see by your gravestone, you’re only nineteen When you joined the great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"The Corries ~ Green Fields Of France - Scotland","description":"[youtube UyiLfSHSqds 555 333] Well, how do you do Private William McBride? Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside? And rest for awhile neath the warm"},"_slim_seo_primary_term_category":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_post_tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148,"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions\/148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librairc.net\/scotland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA researcher from a Belgium war museum has delved in a stack of burial records to find the real Willy McBride. Among the 1,700,000 names he found ten William Willy McBride’s, but only one died in 1916 at the age of 19. This private William McBride served in the Royal Inniskilling Fusilliers and is buried at Authuille Military Cemetery in Northern France. It is not sure though whether or not this particular grave inspired Eric Bogle to write this song.<\/p>\n
\nDuring the First World War No Man’s Land was clearly defined by the trenches. Sometimes the contending parties where so close to each other that they could overhear the conversation of their opponents and many men, unaware of the nearness of the enemy snipers, died on their first day in the trenches.
\nIn contrast with what the term might suggest No Man’s Land was by no means abandoned. Under the cover of darkness the parties continuously repaired or extend the barbed wire fencing and carried out reconnaissance missions. Consequently artillery shelling of No Man’s Land was common. Those who got injured often had to suffer a whole day before being rescued, while corpses were seldom salvaged.<\/p>\n
\nIn olden days bugles and drums marked the phases of a soldier’s day, which started with the wakeup call Reveille. At the end of the day officers, accompanied by bugle players and drummers, made a round along the posts. The start of this round was announced by The First Post and the end by The Last Post, therewith signalling that all sentry posts were manned and that it was safe for off-duty soldiers to go to sleep. In the course of time The Last Post was incorporated into funeral and memorial services as a final farewell and symbolises that the duty of the fallen is over and that they can rest in peace.
\nThe Flowers of the Forrest is a poem written by Jane Elliot in the mid-1750’s. It refers to the Battle of Flodden, which took place in 1513 between the Scots and the English. The outcome was disastrous for the Scots as it is estimated that about 10,000, including King James IV of Scotland, were killed. The Flowers of the Forrest, traditionally played on a bagpipe, has become a lament for lost relatives, whereas the bugle call The Last Post is a final salute for fallen fellow soldiers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"