http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOUqXEMFaSs
No special reason to post this, other than I have always loved this speech, and one video containing four perormances of the “band of brothers” speech from Henry V is too sweet not to share with our readers. Courage, memory and love are powerful motivators, and this speech is a reminder of just how powerful:
WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!
KING. What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian.’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.’
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
“Once more into the breach, dear friends! Once more! Or, we’ll fill the hole with our English blood.”
These are examples of the “classic” pre-battle pep talk. The lethal “Win one for the Gipper” speech.
The English word “hub-bub” comes out of unjust confiscations, invasions and massacres the saxon committed in Ireland, especially in the reign of Elizabeth I.
The foul villains and their mercenaries observed the Irish chieftains, minstrels and pipers harangue the clansmen. The Erse word for victory is “abou.” Often “abou”, or some other clan motto/slogan, would be chanted to arouse the blood lust necessary for (most) men to hack each other to pieces. Also see Wallace’s speech at the first big battle scene in “Braveheart.”
O’Donnell abou!
Mr. McClarey,
I’ve come to respect your knowledge of history and your insights. I just wanted to get your honest opinion on one issue. As I understand it, Catholic doctrine would say that wars of aggression are not justified (most of the time). Though I enjoy Shakespeare’s plays, it bothers me that Henry V was fighting a war of aggression – hence, an unjust war.
From Henry V’s point of view, the war was about his (legitimate?) claim to the French throne. But from the point of view of the French peasantry, whichever dynasty sat on the French throne did not really make any difference in their lives. They were merely caught in the middle; the longer the war lasted, the greater the collateral damage to French civilians. Besides, Henry V already had the Kingdom of England. Hence, it was just pure greed driving Henry V to claim the French throne.
I would appreciate your opinion on this.
Centinel thank you for very kind words and for inspiring a forthcoming post! The more I thought about your question the more complicated my answer became and only a post length reply, which I will attempt to do in the next week, will do it justice. The short answer is that Henry V, by the just war analysis of his day, had a defensible claim to be fighting a just war, while under the just war analysis of our day his war would be unjust. However, there is much more to say than that, and I will attempt to do this intriguing question justice in my forthcoming post.
[…] the comments to my post last week, Henry V Times Four, which may be viewed here, and which had four versions of the immortal “band of brothers” speech, commenter […]
[…] the comments to my post last week, Henry V Times Four, which may be viewed here, and which had four versions of the immortal “band of brothers” speech, commenter […]
[…] Go here to view four versions of the band of brothers speech of Henry V. Go here to read a discussion of the doctrine of just war as applied to King Henry’s war. Go here to view a mock appellate court hearing of an appeal of a trial decision holding that Henry V was justified in ordering the slaying of French prisoners during the battle after a French attack on the baggage train of the English army in which non-combatant English were killed. share: Blog this! Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Buzz it up share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Print for later Bookmark in Browser Tell a friend swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.youtube.com/v/XRkmdpLgLiE&rel=0&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=0", "vvq-29437-youtube-1", "425", "344", "10", vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes); swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.youtube.com/v/R98H2E9JWuY&rel=0&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=0", "vvq-29437-youtube-2", "425", "344", "10", vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes); swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.youtube.com/v/Og8VGLBKOOs&rel=0&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=0", "vvq-29437-youtube-3", "425", "344", "10", vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes); […]