"The liveliest Sunday I ever spent" is how Private P. Case, Liverpool
Regiment, describes the fighting at Mons. "It was a glorious time,"
writes Bandsman Wall, Connaught Rangers; "we had nothing to do but shoot
the Germans as they came up, just like knocking dolls down at the fair
ground." "A very pleasant morning in the trenches," remarks one of the
Officers' Special Reserve; and another writer, after being in several
engagements, says, "This is really the best summer holiday I've ever
had."
Nothing could excel the coolness of the men under fire. With a hail of
bullets and shells raining about them they sing and jest with each
other unconcernedly. Wiping the dust of battle from his face and loading
up for another shot, a Highlander will break forth into one of Harry
Lauder's songs:
"It's a wee deoch an' doruis,
Jist a wee drap, that's a',"
and with a laugh some English Tommies will make a dash at the line "a
braw, bricht, minlicht nicht," with ludicrous consequences to the
pronunciation! According to "Joe," of the 2nd Royal Scots, the favorite
songs in the trenches or round the camp-fire are "Never Mind," and "The
Last Boat is leaving for Home." "Hitchy Koo" is another favorite, and
was being sung in the midst of a German attack. "One man near me was
wounded," says a comrade, "but he sang the chorus to the finish.
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