Majesty's Jolly--soldier an' sailor too!"
_Now 'is work begins by Gawd knows when, and 'is work is never
through--
'E isn't one o' the Regular line, nor 'e isn't one of the crew--
'E's a kind of a giddy herumfrodite--soldier an' sailor too_!

An' after I met 'im all over the world, a-doin' all kinds o' things,
Like landin' 'isself with a Gatling-gun to talk to them 'eathen kings;
'E sleeps in an 'ammick instead of a cot, an' 'e drills with the deck
on a slue,
An' 'e sweats like a Jolly--'er Majesty's Jolly--soldier an' sailor too!
_For there isn't a job on the top o' the earth the beggar don't
know--nor do!
You can leave 'im at night on a bald man's 'ead to paddle 'is own
canoe;
'E's a sort of a bloomin' cosmopolot--soldier an' sailor too_.

We've fought 'em on trooper, we've fought em in dock, an' drunk with
'em in betweens,
When they called us the sea-sick scull'ry maids, an' we called 'em the
Ass Marines;
But when we was down for a double fatigue, from Woolwich to Bernardmyo,
We sent for the Jollies--'er Majesty's Jollies--soldier an' sailor too!
_They think for 'emselves, an they steal for 'emselves, an' they never
ask what's to do,
But they're camped an fed an' they're up an' fed before our bugle's
blew.
Ho! they ain't no limpin procrastitutes--soldier an' sailor too_!

You may say we are fond of an 'arness cut or 'ootin' in barrick-yards,
Or startin' a Board School mutiny along o' the Onion Guards;
But once in a while we can finish in style for the ends of the earth to
view,
The same as the Jollies--'er Majesty's Jollies--soldier an' sailor too.
_They come of our lot, they was brothers to us, they was beggars we'd
met and knew;
Yes, barrin' an inch in the chest an' the arms, they was doubles o'
me and you,
For they weren't no special chrysanthemums--soldier an' sailor too_.

To take your chance in the thick of a rush with firing all about
Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, and leave an' likin' to
shout;
But to stand an' be still to the "Birken'ead" drill is a damn tough
bullet to chew,
And they done it, the Jollies--'er Majesty's Jollies--soldier an'
sailor too.
_Their work was done when it 'adn't begun, they was younger nor me an
you;
Their choice it was plain between drownin in 'eaps an bein mashed by