Henry's Songbook

Do me kerry do a do a do
Kerry do a do an

Down into this country
There lived a wealthy squire
Who had an only daughter
Who's charming, young and fair

She had sweethearts a-plenty
To marriage were inclined
None but John the soldier
Could gain his lady's mind

And when her father come to know
So angry then he swore
I'll give the gang ten guineas
To press young John to the war

But she robbed her wicked old father
Got money at her command
Went to list in the army
A-dressed up like a man

Your waist is long and slender
Your fingers white and small
Your cheeks too red and rosy
To face the cannonball

It's true my waist is slender
My fingers are but small
It wouldn't change my countenance
To see ten thousand fall

Before you join our regiment
Your name I wish to know
She smiled all over her face, she said
They call me Jackie Monroe

She sailed all over the ocean,
All over the deep blue sea
Till she got safely landed
At the wars o' Germany

Well, all upon the battlefield
She floated up and down
Till among the dead and wounded
Her darling Johnnie she found

They have promoted me, she said
They have promoted me
Up to a colonel's level
So a-married we can be

Then up and spoke the general
Such things they cannot be
It's against the laws of our country
Two men to married be

And up and spoke the chaplain
Such things are not allowed
She drew out a broadsword,
I'll make this do for you

So now the two are married
And all do plainly know
John the wounded soldier
Gained the lovely Jackie Monroe

(as sung by Roy Harris)

[1967:] [In] the seventeenth and eighteenth century [there] were several cases of women joining either army or navy and serving for a period dressed in men's clothes. The renowned Mrs Christian Welsh enlisted twice (the first time in search of her kidnapped husband, the second because she was fascinated by army life). She fought with distinction in Marlborough's army, was wounded at Ramillies, and her imposture was discovered as a consequence. She ended her days as a Chelsea pensioner and was accorded a military funeral. Hannah Snell was another bold Amazon, who served for years as a marine in the East Indies, and being wounded she extracted the bullet from herself to avoid being unmasked as a woman. She became a Chelsea outpensioner, took a public house in Wapping and wore trousers for the rest of her puff. Even these shining heroines of the folk are somewhat eclipsed by the dashing Mary Read, who had served as both soldier and sailor before she became notorious as the Female Pirate. (Lloyd, England 212)

[1979:] Wie viele dieser englischen Balladen wird diese sowohl in den USA als auch bei uns gesungen; daher existieren viele Versionen. (Bursch 74)

See also Durowa, Die Offizierin