The Fire Brigade Song
By E.F.Sanders, 1887
The Girton Fire Brigade was founded in December 1878, by S.Marks, G.E.M.Jackson and M.Parker, after the burning of a farmer’s haystacks near the College. No official precautions against fire were available to the new College. The students therefore organised a Brigade, with the help and advice of Captain Shaw (then Captain of the London Fire brigade, and immortalised in Iolanthe).
Training was rigorous and discipline strictly enforced, by the student Head Captain. Throughout its long life, the Fire Brigade was run by students, though junior lecturers were eligible to join. The College provided much of the apparatus, with help from Lady Stanley and others.
Tune: John Peel
Lyrics
D’Ye ken the sound at the break of day,
Of the wild alarm as it hurries on its way?
Now they scamper and they tear for their buckets hanging there
And wake the sleepers sleeping in the morning.
Chorus:
The roar of the rattle brought me from my bed,
And the tramp of the men as past me they sped;
For the subs. loud “alarm” would awaken the dead,
Or bring me from my books in the morning.
Yes, I ken the Brigade and the officers too,
How they marshal the men, keeping time good and true,
How they hand out the buckets and lead to the pumps,
And pump till they drop in the morning.
Chorus:
etc.
And the College too, I ken, standing solemn and still,
With its lectures and its dons, perched high upon the hill;
And I’ll think of it too when I’m far, far away,
And no more to be waked in the morning.
Chorus:
etc.
Then here’s to the corps and the officers and men,
To the buckets, pumps and ropes, and the college in the fen;
With a loud “Left, left,” “Take your distances,” “Move on,”
And “Keep the line there straight” in the morning!
Chorus:
etc.