For dinner it's stew--stew--stew, but it's
not bad. Of course, some day I get all gravy and no meat,
another day meat and no gravy. Tea is quite all right. We
have plenty of bread, butter, jam, and cheese. All food is
fetched in dixeys (large boilers), and tea, stew, and bacon
are all cooked in turn in these, so if the orderlies don't
wash them clean at dinner time we have greasy, stewy tea.
"I am getting a bit used to the marching, especially when
there is anyone singing. The favourites are 'John Peel,'
'Cock Robin,' 'Oh, who will o'er the downs so free?' 'John
Brown's Body,' 'Hearts of Oak,' and 'Annie Laurie.' We all
have little books of Camp Songs, and we learn them at night;
it makes all the difference to the marching. One of the
songs is:--
"Oh, Mother is the leader of society, and
You can see her name is in the papers every day.
She was presented at the court
For fighting Mrs. Short
Down our way.
"Not an exactly edifying song, but it goes with a swing. I
can hardly keep my eyes open as I write this."
On the whole and considering everything--a wide phrase covering many
things unspoken--Sydney Baxter enjoyed his camp life, but Christmas
was certainly a hardship. He writes:
_Christmas Day, 1914.
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