Nautical Superstitions- Fiddler's Green, Part 2

So, after my Fiddler's Green post I got some response describing how Fiddler's Green is actually a fairly common bit of Army Lore (at least in America) and Father sent me this song from Fort Davis, Texas:

"FIDDLER’S GREEN
U. S Ninth Cavalry, Ft Davis, TX

Halfway down the trail to hell in a shady meadow green Are the souls of all dead troopers camped, near a good old time canteen.
And this eternal resting place is known as Fiddler’s Green.

Marching past, straight through to hell, the Infantry are seen, Accompanied by the Engineers, Artillery and Marine, For none but the shades of Cavalrymen stop off at Fiddler’s Green.

Though some go curving down the trail, to seek a warmer scene No trooper ever gets to hell ‘ere he’s emptied his canteen And so rides back to drink again with friends at Fiddler’s Green.

And so when man and horse go down, beneath a saber keen Or in a roaring charge or fierce melee you stop a bullet clean And the hostiles come to get your scalp, just empty your canteen

And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddler’s Green."

Nautical Superstitions- Fiddler's Green

FIDDLER’S GREEN

As opposed to Heaven, Hell or Davy Jones' Locker, Fiddler's Green is an alternate afterlife for sailors. The Green is a place where there is eternal happiness and the fiddlers and dancers never tire. References to Fiddler’s Green are found in Homer’s The Odyssey, but the concept can also found in nautical mythology around the world.

To arrive at Fiddler’s Green an old sailor, be he merchant or pirate, puts his oar over his shoulder and walks inland. When he arrives at a pastoral village deep in the country people will ask what he’s carrying. The villagers will give him a seat in the sun at the local inn, a bottomless mug of grog and an eternally smoking pipe, and he watches the beautiful maidens dancing for the rest of time.