Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/224

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THE BALLAD OF BOH DA THONE

This is the ballad of Boh Da Thone,
Erst a Pretender to Theebaw's throne,
Who harried the district of Alalone:
How he met with his fate and the V. P. P.
At the hand of Harendra Mukerji,
Senior Gomashta, G. B. T.

Boh Da Thone was a warrior bold,
His sword and his Snider were bossed with gold,


And the Peacock Banner his henchmen bore
Was stiff with bullion but stiffer with gore.


He shot at the strong and he slashed at the weak
From the Salween scrub to the Chindwin teak:


He crucified noble, he sacrificed mean,
He filled old women with kerosene:


While over the water the papers cried,
"The patriot fights for his countryside!"


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