Belfast maid's lamentation for the loss of her sweetheart/Wine is Commander

For other versions of this work, see Wine is Commander.

Divider from 'The Belfast Maid's Lamentation', a chapbook printed in Glasgow in 1803

WINE IS COMMANDER.

In the exercise manual we heroes go thro',Of shoulder your firelock, present, fire, boolI don't know how it is, tho' I make shift to pass,I can exercise best with the bottle and glass;Then haste to the camp, for as long d'ye see,As good wine is commander, a soldier I'll be.

So profound my respect to good wine that I doubt,I may chance to desert, when the bottles are out,Yet the bravest must sometimes the bottle decline,And still fight my boys, to the last drop or wine.Then hey for the camp, etc.

If wine gives us courage, the warrior's chief boast,Surely he's the best soldier that tipples the most,And should I get tipsey, thus much I will say,That when I can't stand, I will ne'er run away.Then hey for the camp, etc.

Divider from 'The Belfast Maid's Lamentation', a chapbook printed in Glasgow in 1803

GLASGOW, Printed by J. and M. Robertson, Saltmarket, 1803