| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
MILITARY MUSIC AND ITS STORY.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY ENGLAND.
(The sound) of trumpet and of drum,
That makes the warrior's stomach come;
Whose noise whets valour sharp, like beer
By thunder turned to vinegar;
(For if you hear a trumpet sound or drum beat
Who has not a month's mind to combat?)
—Butler's " Hudibras."
O
UR pagan forefathers knew nothing of these wonderful things in "Hudibras." The learned J. F. Rowbotham has shown us how, in the dim ages of the past, long before civilization's dawn, primitive man marvelled at the sound of the drum, and concluded it to be the voice of a spirit. In the process of time a regular cult grew, and the drum became a particular object of worship. Like the ark of the Hebrews, it was taken into battle " to give victory over
enemies," and the warrior had but to rub it on his
1 2 |
||