Why were many poems in Barrack-Room Ballads written in Cockney dialect?

Rudyard Kipling utilized Cockney dialect in many of the poems within Barrack-Room Ballads to authentically represent the voices and lives of British enlisted men. These soldiers were responsible for defending the British Empire, yet they were frequently scorned by society due to their low birth. By employing the colloquial speech of these common soldiers and sailors, Kipling’s verse broke new ground in literature, grounding his work in the traditions of balladry and music hall songs.12