This is my story This is my song It's a long way from gorgie To the fields o' the somme Where they played tunes of glory As we marched along The pals o' the sporting battalion From the heart of midlothian To the waverly train The crowds they were singing An auld scots refrain Our sweethearts and darlings Our bonnie wee bairns Were waving their flags And calling our names Sing hearts of glory Dawn and sunset Hearts of glory Lest we forget Young scottish soldiers And soldiers unknown Who gave hearts of glory In the trenches of picardy The whistles are blown And it's over the top lads Through the wire and the bombs To pain and destruction Let the piper play To lead us to hell To death and dismay There was never a moment I was not afraid But there by my side Were the gallant mccrae's Until they fell in the slaughter When the bayonets were out And the few of us left Held the auld scots redoubt Ellis and currie Briggs, boyd, hazeldean Wattie and nisbet He was only sixteen Their names i'll remember At the end of each day They fought and died Wi' geordie mccrae Who cared for the kaiser Or imperial gains Love of our country Duty or fame? Between the whim of an airman And four feathers of shame We fought for the pals Of a wee fitba team And when it was over Just what had we done? There were no flags of glory For mccrae and his own There were no graves for heroes For our brothers and sons Who sleep 'neath the flowers In the fields of the somme Some came back as cripples Some couldnae kick a ball Some wounded and broken Most came not at all But they remain in my memory Forever young The pals o' the sporting battalion