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BRAW LADDIES AMIDST THE CLASH OF THE EMPIRES
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Gallipoli
George Hope Tait,Borders poet,12th July 1915
Dawns the day of Border sorrow,
Hallowed shades of heroes rise –
They who fought for Britain’s glory
Crowned it with their sacrifice.
Shall it be with tears we ponder,
Or with racial pride recall
How they charged and fell out yonder
In the blood-red battle thrall.
Ask not how they died! Nor wonder
Which the trench or where the clod –
Down the four winds‘mid the thunder
Went our warriors home to God.
War-torn crests ofAchi-Baba
Sentinel their nameless grave;
Every Border Heart’s an abbey
Consecrated to our brave
Tweed goes smiling down the valley,
Eildon peaks are flaming red –
They who slumber in Valhalla
Are today our glorious dead!