"I have been a soldier in my youth, and therefore know what a helmet is, and what a morion or cap of steel is, as well as a casque with its beaver, and other matters relating to Soldiery—I mean to the arms commonly used by soldiers. And I say, with submission always to better judgments, that the piece before us, not only is not a barber's basin, but is as far from being so as white is from black, and truth from falsehood. At the same time I say that although it be a helmet, it is not a complete helmet."—Don quixote.
Since in fair fight La Mancha's knight Won th' Helmet of Mambrino, At storm or siege, On lord or liege, Has such a casque been seen, O?
When Cavaliers About the cars Of Roundheads banged the sword, My shrapnel hat Might ha' been that I' which Barebones praised the Lord!
A halo shed Around our head, Says one artistic fellow, It might have been— (A soup tureen?)— Designed by Donatello!
Well, have we not For lack of pot Used it to boil an egg in? Or to immerse— Wash-tubs being scarce— A Highland hand or leg in?
It lies like lead Upon the head When we are in the trenches, Yet I must state Our old "soup-plate" Is safer than the Frenchies'.
And so we laugh When Huns do straf Our line as they'd o'erwhelm it; You see that dent? For me 'twas meant— God bless my old steel helmet!
Illustration by Joseph Lee from 'Work-a-day Warriors' by Joseph Lee, published in 1917
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