King's Navy, The

DESCRIPTION: "We don't want to march with the infantry, Ride with the cavalry, shoot with the artillery, We don't want to fly over Germany, We're in the King's Navy." Or, "We don't have to march with the infantry, ride with the cavalry... We're in the Swiss Navy."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Carl E. Zander and Wes H. Klusman, Camp Songs)
KEYWORDS: navy nonballad war campsong
FOUND IN: Canada
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear, p. 63, "The King's Navy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 123, 164, 236, 519, 549, "Swiss Navy" (notes only)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsNThings, p. 46, "The King's Nivy" (1 text, tune referenced)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsPopularEdition, p. 7, "The King's Nivy" (1 text, tune referenced)
DT, KINGNAVY
Roud #29412
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Mare (I) (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)" (tune)
NOTES [52 words]: The two versions of this, "The King's Navy" and "The Swiss Navy," are fairly distinct, and there isn't much evidence to prove which is older -- but I'd guess "The King's Navy" is the original; if "The Swiss Navy" were the earliest form, it probably wouldn't have been changed, because the joke is too good. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: Hopk063

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