The Gathering - Fish

The newspaper headlines were big and bold

our country was going to war

To fight for the freedom of nationhood

to defend us from invading hordes

The general pointed with steely glare

delivered the rallying call

We signed off our lives with a stroke of a pen

joined our pals in the line

We took the King's shilling with pride

From the towns and the cities we came

from the fields and the countryside

the mines and the factories

Volunteers on the square labourers and unemployed

clerks and delivery boys

Skirling pipes charge the air raising the cheering crowd

casting out any doubts

Victory will soon be assured

we know God's on our side at the heart of the gathering

Farewell to our homes and our families

Farewell to the lives we once knew

Farewell to our youth and our innocence

We marched off with the band to the promise

of a brave new world

And I'll write you a letter each passing day

and I'll cherish your every reply

I'll tie them with ribbons and Flanders lace

hold them close to my heart in a sweet embrace

Tell the children that I shall return

laden with medals and dripping with garlands

We'll sit by the banks of the Tyne

and I'll regale you with stories of honour and glory

We'll make up for all the lost time jig to the fiddles

and weave the White Willow

In the evening like ferns we'll entwine

our bodies surrender we give to the gathering

I'll long for my home and my family

I will long for the life I once knew

I'll long for my youth and my innocence

I'll long for a brave new world

In the holds of the ships out of training camps

From the railheads to trudge open roads

Shouldered rifles on heavy souls

Our fears will add to our load

Farewell to our homes and our families

Farewell to the lives we once knew

Farewell to our youth and our innocence

We marched off with the band

pals in battalions to the promise of a brave new world

Joining the gathering

pals in battalions to fight for a brave new world

Pals in battalions we took the King's shilling

and paid for a brave new world