The British Expedition to the CrimeaRussell, William Howard, Sir
History
The British Expedition to the Crimea
Russell, William Howard, Sir
Crimean War, 1853-1856
There was one phrase which served as the universal exponent of peace,
goodwill, praise, and satisfaction between the natives and the soldiery.
Its origin cannot be exactly determined, but it probably arose from the
habit of our men at Malta in addressing every native as "Johnny." At
Gallipoli the soldiers persisted in applying the same word to Turk and
Greek, and at length Turk and Greek began to apply it to ourselves, so
that stately generals and pompous colonels, as they stalked down the
bazaar, heard themselves addressed by the proprietors as "Johnny;" and
to this appellation "bono" was added, to signify the excellence of the
wares offered for public competition. It became the established cry of
the army. The natives walked through the camp calling out "Bono, Johnny!
Sood, sood" (milk)! "Bono, Johnny! Yoomoortler" (eggs)! or, "Bono,
Johnny! Kasler" (geese)! as the case might be; and the dislike of the
contracting parties to the terms offered on either side was expressed by
the simple phrase of "No bono, Johnny." As you rode along the road
friendly natives grinned at you, and thought, no matter what your rank,
that they had set themselves right with you and paid a graceful
compliment by a shout of "Bono, Johnny."
Even the dignified reserve of Royal Dukes and Generals of Division had
to undergo the ordeal of this salutation from Pashas and other
dignitaries. If a benighted Turk, riding homewards, was encountered by a
picquet of the Light Division, he answered the challenge of "Who goes
there?" with a "Bono, Johnny," and was immediately invited to "advance,
friend, and all's well!" and the native servants sometimes used the same
phrase to disarm the anger of their masters. It was really a most
wonderful form of speech, and, judiciously applied, it might, at that
time, have "worked" a man from one end of Turkey in Europe to the other.
The most singular use of it was made when Omar Pasha first visited the
camp. After the infantry had been dismissed to their tents, they crowded
to the front of their lines in fatigue jackets and frocks to see the
Pasha go by, and as he approached them a shout of "Bono! bono! Johnny!"
rent the air, to the great astonishment of Omar, while a flight of
"foragers" gave him some notion of a British welcome. He smiled and
bowed several times in acknowledgment, but it was said that as the
whoops, hurrahs, and yells of the Connaught Rangers rang in his ears, he
turned to one of the officers near him, and said, "These are
noble-looking fellows, but it must be very hard to keep them in order!"
He could not comprehend how such freedom could be made consistent with
strict discipline in the ranks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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