Uploaded July 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Recruiting Sergeant - Great Big Sea
- created with permission from:
* Robert (Bob) Hallett (vocals) / bobhallett.com
* Royal Newfoundland Regiment Band - 37 Canadian Brigade Group, 5th Canadian Division (music) / rnfldrband.ca

Open source images from:
- Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage / heritage.nf.ca
- The Rooms / therooms.ca
- Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum / rnfldr.ca
- Veterans Affairs Canada / veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance

Lyrics:

Two recruiting sergeants came to the CLB,
For the sons of the merchants, to join the Blue Puttees
So all the hands enlisted, five hundred young men
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me

They crossed the broad Atlantic in the brave Florizel,
And on the sands of Suvla, they entered into hell
And on those bloody beaches, the first of them fell

So it's over the mountains, and over the sea
Come brave Newfoundlanders and join the Blue Puttees
You'll fight in Flanders, and at Galipoli
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me

Then the call came from London, for the last July drive
To the trenches with the regiment, prepare yourselves to die
The roll call next morning, just a handful survived.
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me

The stone men on Water Street still cry for the day
When the pride of the city went marching away
A thousand men slaughtered, to hear the King say
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me

So it's over the mountains, and over the sea
Come brave Newfoundlanders and join the Blue Puttees
You'll fight in Flanders, and at Galipoli
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me

So it's over the mountains, and over the sea
Come brave Newfoundlanders and join the Blue Puttees
You'll fight in Flanders, and at Galipoli
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me

So it's over the mountains, and over the sea
Come brave Newfoundlanders and join the Blue Puttees
You'll fight in Flanders, and at Galipoli
Enlist you Newfoundlanders and come follow me