Old battles are never won, or lost, they just keep on re-fighting!

I enjoyed a snigger at a story in today's Mail that informs us all that the French have opened a new museum close to the battlefield at Agincourt.  Apparently, its purpose is to correct all that totally false (and mostly British!) corruption of history which has led people to believe that the British actually won the battle!  Oh, mes enfants, you have been sadly misled by those perfidious Albion-ites!  To add gravitarse, oops, sorry, gravitas to cette nouvelle histoire, the museum was actually opened by a distinguished lady nearly old enough to qualify as an exhibit, Mde. Brigitte Macron, no less.  I am only surprised that her son, ooops sorry, husband failed to attend!

To be fair, 'our 'Enery', the Fifth of that ilk, was not exactly a military genius and his campaign in France began with massive losses in his army due to dysentery, thus indicating that the 'Army Catering Corps' of those days was even worse than today's!  Anyway, it doesn't matter what the French have to say on the subject because we have the greatest propogandist of all time on our side:

WESTMORLAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?
My cousin, Westmorland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmorland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say "These wounds I had on Crispin's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words—
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester—
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Dammit, that fella' was a great scribbler - he should go far!

 

 

Comments

[Whitewall]

Stirring words alright! Kind of makes it hard to hold steady my trembling cup of coffee. I'm glad it's not a sword.

[Timbo]

Is there a Guinness book of records category for the longest held case of butthurt?

[backofanenvelope]

The French museum at Waterloo takes the same approach. Napoleon won.

[Jack the dog]

It must be a European thing, there's plenty of folk including quite close to home (ahem) who seem to think remain won the Great Referendum...

And what about Dunkirk (oops)...Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that history book...

[Scrobs]

I always get a bit frightened when I see a French bird with a pair of scissors; dunno why, but it seems to mean something over there...

[Glesga]

As Churchill said Generalisimo De Gaulle hated the fact that the British came to help.

[Loz]

What a load of clichéd old Dad's Army bollocks.

And you call me boring!?

I need at least 6 comments for any one of yours coz I'm outnumbered 6 to 1.

SoD

[AussieD]

Love that piece from Henry 5, especially delivered by Kenneth Branagh.

[Glesga]

Loz, you outnumber yourself assistance is not required. Now get the cold steel up ye ya fuzzie wuzzie.