Recruiting Sergeants

Song Information

Composer: Traditional

Lyric Author: Traditional

Published: 19th Century

Country of origin: Scotland/Ireland/Canada

General Interest

Early Scottish versions' title is "Twa Recruitin' Sairgants" but there is a very similar Irish song "Arthur McBride". Both serve as a warning not to fall for the unscrupulous tricks used to trap the unwary.

"Taking the King's Shilling" was a term used for enlisting in the Army - and taking money from a recruiter, even inadvertently, meant you'd enlisted. One common trick was to drop a coin in the target's tankard of beer. Even now you'll find some pewter tankards in England with glass bottoms, so you could make sure no one had given you the King's shilling!

The version we sing moves the setting to Newfoundland during the Great War (WWI). This is the story of the Blue Puttees, the first Newfoundland division sent into WWI. They were basically mown down with artillery and machine gun when they went "over the top" at the Battle of the Somme. Frontal assaults were generally ineffective and costly in the trench warfare practiced in the Great War, and 733 out of 801 Newfoundlanders did not answer the roll call the next day, making it the hardest hit regiment. This was of course devastating for Newfoundland, and most were regretting the talk of glory that recruiters put forward.

Here's a link to the Lyric:

Recruiting Sergeants Lyric

Feel free to leave comments to share thoughts or information about this song. If it says you can't leave a comment, you need to sign in using a Google account.