Verse Oh a father and son, they were bonded as one But the heart of the family soon tore For out sounded the call, to one and to all That the king and the land went to war Chorus Oh, the laddie he cried, but his father denied To bring the young soldier along "For your might I award this wooden toy sword And I charge you to carry this song" Won't you come and wait for me at the gate With your wooden toy sword in your hand? It is then I will come with the beat of the drum From defending my king and my land So the father, he taught his son as he ought To defend both his hearth and his home But soon came the day that his Da went away Across the wild horses of foam Chorus Oh, the laddie he cried, but his father denied To bring the young soldier along "For your might I award this wooden toy sword And I charge you to carry this song" He practiced 'til night with skill and with might To learn how to fight for a king And he'd shun other boys with their useless new toys And he'd whistle a song and he'd sing Oh the years slowly turned, broad shoulders grew burned Fine hair lengthened to a proud mane In the middle of spring with a fell practice swing The toy sword had broken in twain The break caused him harm, as the wood pierced his arm And the blood flowed quite free to the ground As his vision grew dim the wind mourned out a hymn That echoed these words round and round Chorus Oh, the laddie he cried, but his father denied To bring the young soldier along "For your might I award this wooden toy sword And I charge you to carry this song" Though the day had grown late the young man went to wait And unsteadily gazed at the sky As the red sun sank low, it soon caused him to know That his last day of childhood would die The stars swam across the night sky with his loss And his father appeared in that sea And the drum of his heart nearly broke him apart As he fell to the ground on one knee For he'd come to wait for his Da at the gate With a broken toy sword in his hand From beyond death he'll come with the beat of love's drum To honour his son and his land