"Sarie Marais" (also called "My Sarie Marais") is a traditional Afrikaans folk song, created during the first Anglo-Boer War (ca. 1880) or the Second Anglo-Boer War (ca. 1900). The tune was probably taken from a song called Ellie Rhee that dated back to the American Civil War (which in turn was probably a version of the traditional folk song titled The Foggy Dew) and the lyrics were translated into Afrikaans. The title is pronounced "Mai SAH-rii mah-RiH".
In the English version of the Afrikaans song, the song begins with the verse: "My Sarie Marais is so far from my heart, but I hope to see her again. .. "(translated:" My Sarie Marais is so far from my heart, but I hope to see her again.) She lived near the Mooi River before this war broke out ...) and the chorus intones: "Or take me back to the old Transvaal, where my Sarie lives, down between the maize fields near the green thorn tree, there lives my Sarie Marais "(translated: Or take me back to the old Transvaal, where my Sarie is, among the corn fields near the green hawthorn, my Sarie Marais lives there.) And he continues to talk about the fear of being sent away, "beyond the sea" (as the Boer men were sent, by the British rulers).
The melody was adopted in 1953 as the official march of the Royal Marines Commandos of the United Kingdom and is played after the Regiment March in ceremonies. The French Foreign Legion also sings this song, translated into French.
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