ole king cole was a merry old soul, and a merrry old soul was he
ole king cole was a merry old soul, and a merrry old soul was he.
 he called for his pipe and he called for his bowl, and he called for the r.
a.
e (infantry, artillery) chorus beer beer beer beer beer, cried the sappers(privates, bombardiers) merry men are we;
 there's none so rare that can compare to the good old r.
a.
e.
(infantry, artillery) ole king cole was a merry old soul etc he called for his pipe, etc, and his corporals 3
left right left right left cried the corporals etc.
 sergeants 3 forward march! cried the sergeants
this song was sung by both peter dacey and darky edwards.
 I recently received an e-mail from the society of the 173rd abn from a vet who had just returned to being a drill sgt in the us army reserves requesting the words to this song.
 while I never heard this song during my military service other american viet vets from the 173rd, 101st, and the 1st cav,have heard it sung in the american army as well as the australian.
 brad tate had collected similar versions from wwii vets.
 I suspect, because of the nature of the song, that it would go back atleast to the american civil war, the crimea.