Henry's Songbook

        Be silent now Greenock, Dundee and Auld Reekie
        Silent the winches on Firth and on Clyde
        While Scotland is sleepin' fair lassies are weepin'
        For the young men who'll never lie down by their side

I sing of the Gordons, lament to young soldiers
Never came back to the land of their kin
Lowland and Highland on Singapore Island
Your sons died for freedom and Bonnie Prince Tin

The Gordons are children of shipwrights and crofters
Strong as a storm wind, tender as rain
Now all our cherished young eagles have perished
None of those gin-sodden planters were slain

How far from Malaya to snowy Bendoran
How far from Lahore to Saltcoats and Ross
No pipes and orations on rubber plantations
Chimes of St. Andrews, how far Glasgow Cross

Repeat 1

[1998:] The Gordon Highlanders were the regiment in charge of Singapore when it fell to the Japanese Army. Billy Connolly gave me this poem many years ago, and I put a tune to it. This fine anti-war piece is for Jimmy Millar, who survived the hell of Changi Prison. (Notes Danny Kyle, 'Heroes and Soft Targets')