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Praetorium Honoris

Friday, January 18, 2013

Sgt MacKenzie


"Sgt. MacKenzie" is a lament written and sung by Joseph Kilna MacKenzie.

Joseph MacKenzie wrote the haunting lament after the death of his wife, Christine, and in memory of his great-grandfather, Charles Stuart MacKenzie, a sergeant in the Seaforth Highlanders, who along with hundreds of his brothers-in-arms from the Elgin-Rothes area in Moray, Scotland went to fight in the Great War. Sergeant MacKenzie was bayoneted to death at the age of 35, while defending one of his badly injured fellow soldiers in the hand-to-hand fighting of the trenches.

The track was then included in his band Clann An Drumma's album Tried and True. While working on the film We Were Soldiers, director Randall Wallace, received a CD of the album and was haunted by the emotion and spirit of reverence captured in "Sgt. MacKenzie". He arranged for Joe and band mate Donnie MacNeil, who played the pipes, to re-record "Sgt. MacKenzie" with the backing of an 80-piece orchestra and the United States Military Academy Choir at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. The lament was introduced into the film during key scenes with MacKenzie singing on his own and on the last track of the film with the orchestra and choir. (From Wikipedia)

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook. This is in memory of Sgt MacKenzie, my great-uncle Robert Bain (also died for King and Country in the Great War) and for all those who paid the ultimate price.

For our Freedom.



4 comments:

  1. Thanks jib. I remember watching the movie and wanting to check the credits for this song. Something came up, I missed it, forgot it and then 'lo these many months later, a friend posts it on Facebook. The Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to behold. (Unlike some, I believe the Lord takes care of us in big ways and in little ways. You might say, all ways.)

    Glad you enjoyed this post jib.

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  2. What Hogday said over at the Place For All of Us. One of the very first things I noticed during my three years in Ol' Blighty were the war memorials from the Great War... in EVERY village and town the length and breadth of the country... and the plaques in the churches. The Brits do NOT forget.

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    Replies
    1. Belgique aussi. It's sad to see, in many Belgian villages the inscriptions:

      Fusillé par les Allemands, 1914

      Fusillé par les Allemands, 1940

      The Belgians do not forget either, at least those I knew.

      Delete

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