[In accordance with the new Territorial organisation some
famous Yeomanry Regiments are to become Motor Machine-Gun
Units.]
Can a horseman turn from his heart's desire at the stroke of a
statesman's pen?
Can we learn to fight from a motor-car--we who were mounted men?
In a petrol-tank and a sparking-plug shall we strive to put our
trust,
And hang our spurs as a souvenir to gather reproachful rust?
Shall we never again ride knee to knee in the pomp of squadron line,
With head-ropes white as a mountain drift and curb chains all
a-shine?
Will they dawn no more, those glorious days when the world seemed
all our own,
Who rode as scouts on an errant quest, alive, alert, alone?
Can a man be made by a motor-car as a man is made by a horse,
With strength in his back and legs and arms, and a brain of swift
resource?
We cared for our mounts before ourselves, their thirst before our
thirst;
Shall we come to learn, with the same content, to think of an
engine first?
Grousing enough. Though times have changed a man may be needed yet.
Shall we stand aloof in an idle dream to nourish a vain regret?
Whatever England may ask of us our service must be hers;
And a horseman's quality 's in his heart and not in a pair of spurs.