The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-11-23
The Significance of .sTipperary.

Lie Oh llpp6ldIy.
c. Lewis Hind, in an article IN the
Daily Chonicle, divines the inner mean
ing of the 'fTipperary' song:-
L heard the call Of the bugles, the
tap of the drums and then the little
army In the making passed along the
seafront, and. there were cheers, the
waving of handkerchiefs, and passion
Of longing to join these youths of Eng
land all afire. Many were in civilian
clothes. l can never see those boys
without catch in the throat.
They sang. They whistled. The air
they whistled was the Marseillaise, -
and the song they were singing was not
Fall In, for that inspiring recruit
ing song had already done its fine work
for them. They had fallen in and the
song they now sang was cit S long,
long way to Tipperary' Such discord,
such delicious discord! Who can ex-
plain why this rough ballad has become
the marching song of our army! think
L know. One line has made it so -
1t s long, long way to Tipperary
"a line which has surface meaning
and an inner meaning into which each
soldier can read his own thoughts.
1t s long, long way to victory, to
the cross on the breast, or the cross on
the field of honor, aye! and to the
heavenly city some may think - well
done, thou good and faithful soldier.
Yes, Tlpperary, you are, exalted above
all other toWns-you have inspired the
marching song of our little army God
bless it,, the made, and in the making.
1t long, long way, little army-but
| you IL arrive, and our hearts are with
you-there
They passed on whistling the Mar
seillaise and singing this song. The
| refrain buzzed in my head. | thought
of the very last time | heard (which
was yesterday hummed by a soldier III
railway carriage.
He was tall, bronzed and young. He
did not read, and / refrained from of
fering him one of my six newspapers.
| Clearly his mind was full of great
memories and he hummed that song
and there was thought in his eyes rs
he sat gazing at the happy English
| landscape-so peaceful. | scanned his
uniform, but could not place him. His
badge was unfamiliar When we reach
ed our destination, this seaport town
said, as he stepped upon the platform
~ 40 = W I'll nv ,Nuui ALiSA't
- Aviation corps, he answered. Then
you will have some fun, - | hazarded
He smiled Il We just come back. Got
my machine smashed up. Come home
to get another He went off some
where Ito get ;hother,' and as he
went he whistled, ct 5 Il long, long
way to Tipperary, it 5 long, long way
to go -
Again l hear the shouts See the mel
are marching back to camp, some il
khaki, some in their home clothes, al
with heads so high and hats are raised
and there are cheers, but louder thar
all in my ears is that delicious discor,
the Marseillaise' and:-
1t Il long, long way to Tipperary
IT. a long, long way to go;
1t 5 long, long way to Tippcrary
TO the sweetest girl l know;
Good-by, Piccadilly;
Farewell, Leicester Square;
1t $ a long, long way to Tipperary
But my heart s right there
No, we don t laugh at the words. an,
, the air to which they are set will neve
be forgotten while we live. Its
long, long way to Tipperary we al
know what that means! Brothers, it
a long, long way, strewn with til
brave, our beloved who have died TO
us; but we shall be-there.