War, the Liberator, and Other Pieces/Four and Twenty Bombers

FOUR AND TWENTY BOMBERS

Tune—‘‘The Ball at Kirriemuir”

OH, four and twenty bombers,
Gaed oot at La Boisselle,
An’ only ane cam’ back again,
Remarkin’ it was hell.

Chorus—Singing ‘‘Wha’ll dae’t the next time?
Chorus—Singing “ Wha’ll dae’t the noo?
Chorus—Singing “ The lads that did it last time
Chorus—Singing “ Cannae dae it noo.”

We bombed’em for fower hours,
Until we had tae stop,
An’ then there was a row o’ duds
Upon the crater top.

Chorus—Singing, etc.

Sae here’s tae the Kaiser,
We’ll soon hae’s blood,
If we cannae throw a live
We can aye buzz a dud. -

Chorus—Singing, etc.

This choice lyric, from which the best verse is omitted, for obvious reasons, is set to an ancient and disreputable Scotch ballad.