In the history of the British Army, one character stands out ....infamous in the ways of cajoling would-be recruits to sign up.......
The Recruiting Sergeant...
Many wiles he used....but none so effective as...free rum...and the Kynge's Shilling...
The Kynge’s Shilling...
................
Young and daft I was
and easy to waylay
and o’ ...the sergeant
saw me coming
on that fateful day..
‘Young sir’ he cryed
‘are you for adventure’s whim’ ?
he must have seen
the awe in my gaze
when I looked at him.
Tall an’ craggy red
coat smart as paint
was that sergeant who
saw me coming..
cunning wise..I ain’t..
‘Och ye are a handsome
young an’ healthie lad,
sign up for Kynge and Counterie
there’s a silver shilling
to be had’..
Never had I saw sae bright
a bonny silver shilling
an’ a nog o’ rum for free
if I’d join the Colours
an’ dae the killing..
Strong drink was no’ my mettle
and that rum was strong,
singing lyke a lintie
I signed wi’ my mark
my freedome for a song..
Och.well dae I regret that day
when I sae daft an’ willing
tricked by a red
coated sergeant’s lies...
I took the Kynge’s Shilling...
Selected poems from previous & forthcoming collections together with Q&R apps on each page to enable audio rendition simultaneously with the written text
A further collection of poems, many from years in the Middle East, but also the California San Francisco and Central Coast areas (Santa Cruz, Carmel, Big Sur, Berkeley, etc.).
The songs and art in this book are about our collective emergence after the pandemic and trauma of the last few years - comprised of 5 collections: World as Refuge, Where We Live, In Our Hands, Rhythms of Change and What We See & Sow.
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