View source for A Ballad of the Ranks

[[File:boosey-1897-12-who-carries-the-gun.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''Who Carries the Gun?''<br />([[Boosey & Co.]], december 1897)]]

''A Ballad of the Ranks'' is a poem written by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] first published in [[The Speaker|The Speaker: The Liberal Review]] on 6 february 1897.

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== Editions ==

* in ''[[The Speaker]]'' (6 february 1897 [UK])
* in ''[[The Living Age]]'' (27 march 1897 [US])
* in ''[[Current Literature]]'' (april 1897 [US])
* ''Who Carries the Gun?'' (december 1897, [[Boosey & Co.]] [UK])
* in ''[[Songs of Action]]'' (1898-1916, [[Smith, Elder & Co.]] [UK])
* in ''[[Songs of Action]]'' (august 1898, [[Charles Scribner's Sons]] [US])
* in ''[[New York Journal]]'' (14 august 1898 [US])
* in ''[[Songs of Action]]'' (september 1898, [[Doubleday & McClure Co.|Doubleday, Page & Co.]] [US])
* ''A Ballad of the Ranks'' (march 1900, [[Chappell & Co.]] No. 20946 [UK])
* ''A Ballad of the Ranks'' (may 1901, [[Chappell & Co.]] No. 20981 [UK])
* ''A Ballad of the Ranks'' (september 1901, [[J. Curwen & Sons]] ''Chorus for Equal Voices No. 576'' [UK])
* ''A Ballad of the Ranks'' (may 1915, [[Boosey & Co.]] [UK])
* in ''[[Songs of Action]]'' (1918-1920, [[John Murray]] [UK])
* in ''[[The Poems of Arthur Conan Doyle]]'' (1922-1928, [[John Murray]] [UK])


== Music ==
''Music translated by AI from the original music sheet below.''

{{audio|boosey-1897-12-who-carries-the-gun-p1-9.mp3}}

== A Ballad of the Ranks ==
[[File:the-speaker-1897-02-06-p154-155-a-ballad-of-the-ranks.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[The Speaker]] (6 february 1897, p. 154-155)]]

Who carries the gun?<br />
A lad from over the Tweed.<br />
Then let him go, for well we know<br />
He comes of a soldier breed.<br />
So drink together to rock and heather,<br />
Out where the red deer run,<br />
And stand aside for Scotland's pride—<br />
The man that carries the gun!<br /><br />

For the Colonel rides before,<br />
The Major's on the flank,<br />
The Captains and the Adjutant<br />
Are in the foremost rank.<br />
But when it's 'Action front!'<br />
And fighting's to be done,<br />
Come one, come all, you stand or fall<br />
By the man who holds the gun.<br /><br />

Who carries the gun?<br />
A lad from a Yorkshire dale.<br />
Then let him go, for well we know<br />
The heart that never will fail.<br />
Here's to the fire of Lancashire,<br />
And here's to her soldier son!<br />
For the hard-bit north has sent him forth—<br />
The lad that carries the gun.<br /><br />

Who carries the gun?<br />
A lad from a Midland shire.<br />
Then let him go, for well we know<br />
He comes of an English sire.<br />
Here's a glass to a Midland lass,<br />
And each can choose the one,<br />
But east and west we claim the best<br />
For the man that carries the gun.<br /><br />

Who carries the gun?<br />
A lad from the hills of Wales.<br />
Then let him go, for well we know,<br />
That Taffy is hard as nails.<br />
There are several ll's in the place where he dwells,<br />
And of w's more than one,<br />
With a 'Llan' and a 'pen,' but it breeds good men,<br />
And it's they who carry the gun.<br /><br />

Who carries the gun?<br />
A lad from the windy west.<br />
Then let him go, for well we know<br />
That he is one of the best.<br />
There's Bristol rough, and Gloucester tough,<br />
And Devon yields to none.<br />
Or you may get in Somerset<br />
Your lad to carry the gun.<br /><br />

Who carries the gun?<br />
A lad from London town.<br />
Then let him go, for well we know<br />
The stuff that never backs down.<br />
He has learned to joke at the powder smoke,<br />
For he is the fog-smoke's son,<br />
And his heart is light and his pluck is right—<br />
The man who carries the gun.<br /><br />

Who carries the gun?<br />
A lad from the Emerald Isle.<br />
Then let him go, for well we know,<br />
We've tried him many a while.<br />
We've tried him east, we've tried him west,<br />
We've tried him sea and land,<br />
But the man to beat old Erin's best<br />
Has never yet been planned.<br /><br />

Who carries the gun?<br />
It's you, and you, and you;<br />
So let us go, and we won't say no<br />
If they give us a job to do.<br />
Here we stand with a cross-linked hand,<br />
Comrades every one;<br />
So one last cup, and drink it up<br />
To the man who carries the gun!<br /><br />

For the Colonel rides before,<br />
The Major's on the flank,<br />
The Captains and the Adjutant<br />
Are in the foremost rank.<br />
And when it's 'Action front!'<br />
And there's fighting to be done,<br />
Come one, come all, you stand or fall<br />
By the man who holds the gun.


: January 27th, 1897.
:: A. Conan Doyle



== Sheet Music ==

In december 1897, [[Boosey & Co.]] published the poem as a song "Who Carries the Gun?". Music by [[Alicia Adélaïde Needham]].


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</gallery>



== More sources ==

<gallery mode="packed" heights="300px" caption="[[Current Literature]] (april 1897)">
File:current-literature-1897-04-a-ballad-of-the-ranks-p383.jpg|p. 383
</gallery>






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* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:Complete Works|Back to Complete Works]]
* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Back to Conan Doyle]]