Calling Doon the Line (The Piper's Call)

The boys stood on the platform in 1917 Waiting for a train to Salisbury Plain They were only in their teens. A lad to his mother said dinnae fret We'll be home by Christmas day And the piper played Scotland the Brave As they waved the boys away Calling doon the line Calling doon the line And they rallied roond to the pipers tune (That was) Calling doon the line The Sgt Major pushed them hard They were trained in only days For to bear the brunt of the Western front They would soon be on their way So off they marched, rifles shoulder high And all at once they sang For we're no awa, tae bide awa Tae the pipers in the band Calling doon the line Calling doon the line And they rallied roond to the pipers tune (That was) Calling doon the line The thunder echoed through the trench As the shells abin them rained And the generals spent a thousand men For every inch they gained And the brave young men faced their battle dawn So proud to do their jobs And the piper stood in the line of fire And played them ower the top Calling doon the line Calling doon the line And they rallied roond to the pipers tune (That was) Calling doon the line When no man's land fell silent And they counted all the dead The victory claimed would disguise the shame And nothing more was said And the fallen brave on a foreign field They gave their very best And the piper played a sad lament As they laid the boys to rest Calling doon the line Calling doon the line And they rallied roond to the pipers tune (That was) Calling doon the line Calling doon the line Calling doon the line And they rallied roond to the pipers tune (That was) Calling doon the line And they rallied roond to the pipers tune (That was) Calling doon the line (Piper)