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to serve as private soldiers with the understanding being that they would be given a commission (without purchase) at a later date. The men trained and fought as private soldiers but "
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The term "gentleman ranker" suggests that the soldier was born into wealth and privilege, but disgraced himself and so has enlisted as a common soldier (or one of the
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of Yale. Their historian states that the song was known "as far back as 1902" and was popular by 1907–1909. The words were famously adapted by
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of a "good" family, who was paid a regular allowance to stay abroad, far from home, where he cannot embarrass the family.
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179: Baa! Yah! Bah!
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The gentleman rankers also included the soldiers who signed on specifically as "gentleman volunteers" in the
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and repeats the "chorus" of
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51:) serving apart from the society that now scorns him. That fate was similar to that of a
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borrows part of the poem in his song "Island Of No Return" on his 1984 album
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or privately-educated background may still be considered gentleman rankers.
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titled one of his poems, which was published in 1892, "Gentlemen-Rankers".
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set it to music and recorded it in 1990 for his privately-issued cassette
163: And we die, and none can tell Them where we died.
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600:(officers, particularly wartime, from outside the usual "officer class")
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319:: "Me and the corporal out on the spree, Damned from here to Eternity".
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146: Do you wonder that we drug ourselves from pain?
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Our shame is clean repentance for the crime that brought the sentence,
138: Can you blame us if we soak ourselves in beer?
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soldier who is suited through education and social background to be a
155: God help us, for we knew the worst too young!
151: We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung,
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142: And the horror of our fall is written plain,
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When the drunken comrade mutters and the great guard-lantern gutters
104:'s stories and as the title of a poem that he wrote; it appeared in
134: And all we know most distant and most dear,
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In the poem, "machinely crammed" may indicate the use of a Latin "
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159: Our pride it is to know no spur of pride,
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We have done with Hope and Honour, we are lost to Love and Truth,
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Perhaps the most famous gentleman ranker of the 20th century was
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327:. That recording was also included in 2012 on the CD reissue of
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Peter
Bellamy Sings the Barrack-Room Ballads of Rudyard Kipling
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Every secret, self-revealing on the aching whitewashed ceiling,
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And the Curse of Reuben holds us till an alien turf enfolds us
502:"Gentlemen Rankers [Rudyard Kipling, Peter Bellamy]"
412:(Definitive ed.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday. pp.
273:". In turn, it has been covered by many singers, including
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And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth.
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If the home we never write to, and the oaths we never keep,
470:"An Authentic Account of the Founding of the Whiffenpoofs"
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Across the snoring barrack-room return to break our sleep,
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The Road to
Kalamata: A Congo Mercenary's Personal Memoir
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wool, that was sewn onto the uniforms of highly skilled
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From Sea to Sea and Other
Sketches, Letters of Travel
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Kipling's poem, in translation, was set to music by
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257:in the early 1900s. It became associated with one
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559:, John Jennings, Reynal & Hitchcock (1942),
440:Edvard Grieg: Letters to Colleagues and Friends
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8:
524:. Boulder, Col.: Paladin Press. p. 47.
970:Rudyard Kipling's Verse: Definitive Edition
35:, or indeed a former commissioned officer.
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573:, Leon Gordon, Kessinger Publishing 2007,
293:, takes its title from Kipling's poem. In
781:Wee Willie Winkie and Other Child Stories
234:Adaptations of and references to the poem
16:British Army upper-class enlisted soldier
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110:, first series, published in 1892, and
694:The Naulahka: A Story of West and East
249:The poem was set to music and sung at
107:Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses
765:The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales
212:Branded with the blasted worsted spur
7:
1533:Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer
571:The Gentleman Ranker and Other Plays
114:included it in his 1941 collection,
1564:Rudyard Kipling: A Remembrance Tale
1305:The Conversion of Aurelian McGoggin
442:. Peer Gynt Press. pp. 660–1.
307:by Mobile Infantry officer cadets.
1263:The Arrest of Lieutenant Golightly
14:
1445:The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo
1102:The Gods of the Copybook Headings
338:, a memoir by soldier of fortune
283:'s award-winning 1951 bestseller
1590:Caroline Starr Balestier Kipling
1004:The Ballad of the 'Clampherdown'
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454:Based on a recent recording by
100:The term appears in several of
1382:Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris
269:and George Pomeroy to become "
202:, specifically in her role as
1:
1326:The Drums of the Fore and Aft
1144:The Last of the Light Brigade
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303:(1959), the poem is sung at
228:the Biblical story of Reuben
210:means easy access to money.
1714:History of the British Army
1438:The Ship that Found Herself
1011:The Ballad of East and West
978:A Choice of Kipling's Verse
316:Brewing Up with Billy Bragg
117:A Choice of Kipling's Verse
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1319:The Devil and the Deep Sea
1291:The Butterfly that Stamped
733:Plain Tales from the Hills
1704:Poetry by Rudyard Kipling
1699:Military slang and jargon
1452:The Taking of Lungtungpen
1396:The Man Who Would Be King
1081:The Female of the Species
334:The song is spoken of in
222:of the British Army. The
1501:Yoked with an Unbeliever
1284:The Broken-Link Handicap
997:The Absent-Minded Beggar
946:The Fringes of the Fleet
749:The Story of the Gadsbys
127:", the speaker "sings":
1550:Aerial Board of Control
1480:Toomai of the Elephants
1368:In the House of Suddhoo
408:Rudyard Kipling's Verse
291:US entered World War II
1528:Indian Railway Library
1431:The Rescue of Pluffles
1238:The White Man's Burden
981:(by T. S. Eliot, 1941)
875:All the Mowgli Stories
851:The Second Jungle Book
629:"The Whiffenpoof Song"
374:"KITCHENER'S NEW ARMY"
188:
1638:Georgiana Burne-Jones
1614:John Lockwood Kipling
1277:Bread upon the Waters
1137:The King's Pilgrimage
859:Letting in the Jungle
686:The Light That Failed
286:From Here to Eternity
261:group in particular,
259:collegiate a cappella
1487:Watches of the Night
1466:The Three Musketeers
1459:Three and – an Extra
1270:Baa Baa, Black Sheep
1130:In the Neolithic Age
797:Barrack-Room Ballads
336:The Road to Kalamata
271:The Whiffenpoof Song
95:
33:commissioned officer
1410:Miss Youghal's Sais
962:Limits and Renewals
949:(1915, non-fiction)
938:Rewards and Fairies
930:Puck of Pook's Hill
706:Captains Courageous
617:"Gentleman Rankers"
598:Temporary gentlemen
123:In Kipling's poem "
1654:Philip Burne-Jones
1646:Edward Burne-Jones
1567:(2006 documentary)
1354:His Chance in Life
1203:The Sons of Martha
1151:The Lowestoft Boat
1116:Hymn Before Action
954:Debits and Credits
757:In Black and White
379:The New York Times
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821:Mowgli's Brothers
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699:Wolcott Balestier
627:Works related to
615:Works related to
468:James M. Howard.
449:978-0-9645238-2-1
382:. 31 January 1915
300:Starship Troopers
277:and Rudy Vallee.
267:Meade Minnigerode
255:Yale Universities
244:Gentlemen-Menige.
242:in 1900 (EG 156,
125:Gentlemen-Rankers
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475:. Archived from
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1361:His Wedded Wife
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1175:McAndrew's Hymn
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914:Just So Stories
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805:Many Inventions
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551:Further reading
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482:on 18 July 2011
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1298:Consequences
1217:The Sweepers
1167:Mary Gloster
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1575:(2007 film)
1572:My Boy Jack
1559:(1997 play)
1556:My Boy Jack
1473:Thrown Away
1189:Recessional
1182:My Boy Jack
1088:Fuzzy-Wuzzy
1074:A Death-Bed
883: 1895
725:Collections
516:Hoare, Mike
311:Billy Bragg
281:James Jones
275:Bing Crosby
196:The Empress
185:Stanzas 3-4
112:T. S. Eliot
57:black sheep
49:other ranks
1688:Categories
1601:(daughter)
1340:False Dawn
1333:Fairy-Kist
1210:Submarines
360:References
340:Mike Hoare
226:refers to
1538:Iron Ring
1375:Kidnapped
1109:Gunga Din
1060:Dane-geld
1053:Cold Iron
540:299048521
422:225762741
354:a capella
348:recorded
297:'s novel
208:Ready tin
1657:(cousin)
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1617:(father)
1494:Wireless
1158:Mandalay
586:See also
518:(2008).
438:(2000).
404:(1940).
183:—
29:enlisted
1673:(uncle)
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1389:Lispeth
866:Red Dog
854:(1895)
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701:, 1892)
565:1373887
486:30 July
251:Harvard
216:worsted
192:crammer
19:In the
1694:Gentry
1641:(aunt)
1593:(wife)
1583:Family
1231:Ubique
973:(1940)
965:(1932)
957:(1926)
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678:Novels
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416:-423.
386:9 June
90:landed
86:titled
68:messed
27:is an
1609:(son)
1224:Tommy
1046:Boots
989:Poems
480:(PDF)
473:(PDF)
1256:.007
1165:The
575:ISBN
561:OCLC
536:OCLC
526:ISBN
488:2008
444:ISBN
418:OCLC
388:2008
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