- Sgt. MacKenzie
Infobox Single
Name = Sgt. MacKenzie
Artist = Joseph Kilna MacKenzie
from Album = We Were Soldiers
Released =2002
Format = CD
Recorded =2000 (Tried and True)2002 (We Were Soldiers)
Genre =Lament
Length =
Label =
Producer =
Chart position =
Reviews =
Last single =
This single = "Sgt. MacKenzie"
(2002)
Next single = "Sgt. MacKenzie" is alament written and sung by Joseph Kilna MacKenzie. [cite web |first= Willie |last= Younie | title=SGT MACKENZIE | url=http://www.speyside.moray.org/Rothes-on-Spey/rothmar02/page12.html | publisher=The Rothsian | accessdate=09 May | accessyear=2007]History
Joseph MacKenzie wrote the song in memory of his great-grandfather, Charles Stuart MacKenzie, a
sergeant in theSeaforth Highlanders , who along with hundreds of his brothers-in-arms from the Elgin-Rothes area inMoray ,Scotland went to fight in the Great War. Sergeant MacKenzie was bayoneted to death at the age of 35, while defending one of his badly injured fellow soldiers in the hand-to-hand fighting of the trenches.Joseph MacKenzie wrote the haunting lament after the death of his wife, Christine. The track was then included in his band
Clann An Drumma 's album "Tried and True". While working on the filmWe Were Soldiers , directorRandall Wallace , who also won an Oscar for his screenplay ofBraveheart , received a CD of the album and was haunted by the emotion and spirit of reverence captured in "Sgt. MacKenzie". He arranged for Joe and band mate Donnie MacNeil, who played the pipes, to re-record "Sgt. MacKenzie" with the backing of an 80-pieceorchestra and the Unites States Military Academy Choir at the famousAbbey Road Studios in London. The lament was introduced into the film during key scenes with MacKenzie singing on his own and on the last track of the film with the orchestra and choir.gt. Charles Stuart MacKenzie
Sgt. Charles Stuart MacKenzie went to fight in
France duringWorld War I and was shot in the shoulder. The military sent him home to Scotland for treatment, where the surgeon wanted to amputate his arm. Sgt. MacKenzie refused, stating that he had to go back to his men. While recuperating in the hospital, he was asked what it was like to kill "the hun" (as the Germans were called then). He replied, "what a waste of a fine body of men". His last picture, with him in uniform, was taken on the steps of the hospital. This picture hung in his home above the fireplace. Upon his return to the front, he and his men were engaged in fixed bayonet combat. The composer says,The Lyrics
cots Tongue
Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun
When they come a wull staun ma groon Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears
Ains a year say a prayer faur me Close yir een an remember me
Nair mair shall a see the sun For a fell tae a Germans gun
Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun
English Translation
Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone
When they come I will stand my ground Stand my ground I'll not be afraid
Thoughts of home take away my fear Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears
Once a year say a prayer for me Close your eyes and remember me
Never more shall I see the sun For I fell to a German's gun
Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone Where before many more have gone
ee also
*
Seaforth Highlanders
*"We Were Soldiers "
*Randall Wallace
*Mel Gibson External links
* [http://www.clannandrumma.com/sgtmac.html Sgt. MacKenzie on Clan An Drumma's website]
* [http://compuball.com/av/sgtmackenzie.htm Sgt. MacKenzie in MP3 Format]References
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