Butchered to make a dutchman'S holiday

Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant 1864 (Bridgwater, Somerset) – 1902 (Pretoria)



In prison cell I sadly sit,
   A d__d crest-fallen chappie!
And own to you I feel a bit-
   A little bit - unhappy!

It really ain't the place nor time
   To reel off rhyming diction -
But yet we'll write a final rhyme
   Whilst waiting cru-ci-fixion!

No matter what 'end' they decide -
   Quick-lime or 'b'iling ile,' sir?
We'll do our best when crucified
   To finish off in style, sir!

But we bequeath a parting tip
   For sound advice of such men,
Who come across in transport ship
   To polish off the Dutchmen!

If you encounter any Boers
   You really must not loot 'em!
And if you wish to leave these shores,
   For pity's sake, DON'T SHOOT 'EM!!

And if you'd earn a D.S.O.,
   Why every British sinner
Should know the proper way to go
   Is: 'ASK THE BOER TO DINNER!'

Let's toss a bumper down our throat, -
   Before we pass to Heaven,
And toast: 'The trim-set petticoat
   We leave behind in Devon.'

At its end the manuscript is described -
   The Last Rhyme and Testament of Tony Lumpkin -

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

57 sec read
169

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GXGD HIHI HFXF JDJD XX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 977
Words 188
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2

Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant

Harry "Breaker" Harbord Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902) was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, bush poet and military officer, who was convicted and executed for murder during the Second Anglo-Boer War. While serving with the Bushveldt Carbineers during the Second Anglo-Boer War, Lieutenant Morant was arrested and court-martialed for war crimes—one of the first such prosecutions in British military history. According to military prosecutors, Morant retaliated for the death in combat of his commanding officer with a series of revenge killings against both Boer POWs and many civilian residents of the Northern Transvaal. more…

All Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant poems | Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant Books

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