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The Banks of the Nile 
The Banks of the Nile 
Oh, hark -- the drum still beats, my love: no longer can we stay The bugle horn is sounding clear, and we must march away We're ordered down to Portsmouth and it's many's the weary mile To join the British Army on the banks of the Nile 
Oh, Willie, dearest Willie, don't leave me here to mourn Don't make me curse and rue the day that ever I was born For the parting of our love would be like parting with my life So stay at home, my dearest love, and I will be your wife 
Oh, my Nancy, dearest Nancy, sure, that would never do The government has ordered, and we are bound to go The government has ordered, and the Queen, she gives command And I am bound on oath, my love, to serve in a foreign land 
Oh, but I'll cut off my yellow hair, and I'll go along with you I'll dress myself in uniform, and I'll see Egypt too I'll march beneath your banner while Fortune, it do smile And we'll comfort one another on the banks of the Nile 
Your waist, it is too slender, and your fingers, they are too small And the sultry suns of Egypt your rosy cheeks would spoil Where the cannons, they do rattle and the bullets, they do fly And the silver trumpet sounds so loud: to hide the dismal cries 
Oh, cursed be these cruel wars, wherever they began For they have robbed our country of many's the handsome man They've robbed us of our sweethearts, while their bodies, they feed the lines
 (feed the lions?) On the dry and sandy deserts which are the banks of the Nile
 Learned this from the record Fotheringay, from the singing of
 Sandy Denny, may she rest in peace. DT #442 Law N9 JN
 apr96