Music

The Regimental Band Music of the Queen’s Own Highlanders

Regimental March

Queen’s Own Highlanders (An arrangement of the march of the Seaforth Highlanders ‘Scotland for ever’, and the march of The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, ‘The march of the Cameron men’.

Parade Music

General salute Scotland for ever
Royal salute The National Anthem
Mach past in slow time The garb of old Gaul
March past in quick time Queen’s Own Highlanders
Advance in review order Highland laddie

Band music is also set down for other occasions: Trooping the Colour, Arrivals and Departures, Church Parade and Playing in the Messes.

The Pipe Duty Tunes of the Queen’s Own Highlanders

The tunes laid down for the Pipe Duty of the Queen’s Own Highlanders were selected from those used until 1961 by the Seaforth Highlanders and The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.

Regimental Marches

Regimental march past in quick time Pibroch of Donuil Dubh
Regimental march Cabar Feidh
Regimental march The march of the Cameron men
Regimental slow march The garb of old Gaul
Regimental charge The standard on the Braes of Mar

Daily Routine

Reveille Johnnie Cope
Long reveille, 2nd tune Up in the morning early
Breakfast pipes Brose and butter
Marching off a guard MacDonald’s awa to the war
Dinner pipes Over the water to Charlie
Tea pipes Jenny’s bawbee
Retreat Dark lowers the night
First post 72nd Highlanders
Staff parade Highland laddie
Last post Lochaber no more
Lights out Sleep dearie, sleep

 Entering and Leaving Barracks

Entering barracks Cabar Feidh; 79th Highlanders
Leaving barracks We will take the good old way
Leaving a station The 79th’s farewell to Gibraltar; Bundle and go
Playing-out a draft Happy we’ve been a’ thegither
Playing-in a draft Oh but ye’ve been land a-coming

Company Marches

A Company The Dornoch Links
B Company The Highland Brigade at Tel-el-Kebir
C Company The brown-haired maiden
D Company The bugle horn
S Company The 51st Highland Division at Wadi Akarit
HQ Company Over the Chindwin

Duty pipe tunes are also set down for other occasions: Parades, Trooping the Colour, Retreat, Tattoo, Playing in the Messes and Regimental Customs (such as the New Year Gate Ceremony, Chairing-out after 22 years’ service, weddings and funerals).  The music and the histories of the tunes, and notes on the procedure for their use, were published in ‘The Piper’s Day – The Regimental Duty Tunes of the Queen’s Own Highlanders.

Jim Hogg Wrote The words for The Sands of Kuwait

Here I sit so far from my home
Here I sit with my thoughts alone
Thoughts of my kin, thoughts of my love
Thoughts of the hills and clouds above
No green can I see; all seems barren to me
No stream running by to a bountiful sea
No trees with their shade, no cool summer’s breeze
No soft words to cheer me

The Sands of Kuwait

The sands of Kuwait stretch far from the eye
Here we shall live or here we shall die
So pray for us all, my comrades and me
That we may return safe back home to thee
Our thoughts are with you, our loved ones at home
But here for a while the sands we must roam
A boundless expanse – no end can I see
As boundless my dear as my love for you

The Sands of Kuwait

I recall when first we met
At the fair on that warm summer day
Your eyes so bright, your hair flowing free
A smile full of joy and laughter so gay
A heart full of care wherever you go
A heart ever true whene’er I must roam
Fate smiled on me then, oh smile once again
And lead me back home

The Sands of Kuwait

The sands of Kuwait stretch far from the eye
Here we shall live or here we shall die
So pray for us all, my comrades and me
That we may return safe back home to thee
Our thoughts are with you, our loved ones at home
But here for a while the sands we must roam
A boundless expanse – no end can I see
As boundless my dear as my love for you

For we’re all cabarfeidh

For we’re all Cabarfeidh and we’re singing as we go
To the Promised Land where the beer and whisky flows,
We were drunk last night aye and drunk the night before
And we’re all in the Queen’s Own Highlanders.

For we’re all cabarfeidh

No booze today no booze today no booze because it’s Sunday,
No booze today no booze today we’ll have to wait till Monday,
For we’re all Cabarfeidh and we’re singing as we go
To the Promised Land where the beer and whisky flows,
We were drunk last night aye and drunk the night before
And we’re all in the Queen’s Own Highlanders.

For we’re all cabarfeidh

So goodbye booze for ever more my boozing days are nearly o’er
Had a good time but it didn’t agree, look what booze has done to me,
For we’re all Cabarfeidh and we’re singing as we go
To the Promised Land where the beer and whisky flows,
We were drunk last night aye and drunk the night before
And we’re all in the Queen’s Own Highlanders.

For we’re all cabarfeidh

So goodbye booze for ever more my boozing days are nearly o’er
And when I die don’t bury me at all just soak my bones in alcohol,
For we’re all Cabarfeidh and we’re singing as we go
To the Promised Land where the beer and whisky flows,
We were drunk last night aye and drunk the night before
And we’re all in the Queen’s Own Highlanders.

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