General McOmish,
You are correct, my pedestrian friend, the 'Garry Owen' was, and is a drinking song. It was, and is, the marching song for the 7th U.S. Cavalry and was a British marching (and drinking) song before that. Supposedly, Garry Owen is a town in Ireland.
Ahem:
Oh ye Sons of Bacchus be not dismayed, It was for you that wine was made. So come along each jovial Blade, And join me in the Chorus:
Our hearts, so stout, have brought us fame, For soon t'is known from whence we came! Where ere we go, they dread the name, of Garry Owen in Glory!
We'll forsake the Spa and drink Brown Ale, and hit each reckoning on the nail! No man for debt shall go to jail, While he can Garry Owen Hail!
Our hearts, so stout, have brought us fame, For soon t'is known from whence we came! Where ere we go, they dread the name, of Garry Owen in Glory!
I doubt there was a lot of this heard on the banks of the Greasy Grass (aka The Little Bighorn)
_________________ Dan Peterjohn General, United States Volunteers Army of the Tennessee Commanding
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