Punch/Volume 147/Issue 3829/A Rival of Tipperary
While much has been written of the songs that inspire our own brave troops on the march, little is heard of those affected by our Allies.
Happily Mr. Punch's Special Eye-witness with General Headquarters in the Eastern Area has been enabled to send us the words of a song which, set to an old Slav air, is rendered with immense élan by the gallant Russians as they go into battle. It is as follows:—
It's a hard nut is Cracow,
It's a hard nut to crack,
But it's not so hard to crack, oh!
When once you've got the knack.
Good-bye, Przemysl;
Farewell, Lomborg (Lwow);
It's a hard, hard nut to crack is Cracow,
But we'll soon crack it now.
It's a hard nut to crack,
But it's not so hard to crack, oh!
When once you've got the knack.
Good-bye, Przemysl;
Farewell, Lomborg (Lwow);
It's a hard, hard nut to crack is Cracow,
But we'll soon crack it now.
By the more cultured Russian regiments, i.e., those recruited in the neighbourhood of the German frontier, the last line is rendered:—
But we'll crack it right off,
to rhyme with Lvoff—the correct pronunciation Lwow, according to a contemporary.