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The British Grenadiers
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The British Grenadiers was a marching song for the grenadier units of the British military from the 17th Century to the 19th Century. It is the Regimental Quick March of the Grenadier Guards, one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the Queen's Household Division, as well as the Honourable Artillery Company and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. It is also an authorised march of The Royal Gibraltar Regiment, The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, The Canadian Grenadier Guards, The Royal Regiment of Canada, The Princess Louise Fusiliers, and The 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles.
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A song entitled "The New Bath" found in Playford's dance books from the 1600s is thought to be the origin.[1] Also, during Operation Market Garden, a few men of the British 1st Airborne Division are said to have played this song using a flute and a few helmets and sticks as drums.[2]
In the UK, it is played at Trooping the Colour when the Grenadier Guards march past the Queen. Additionally, the first eight measures are played during the ceremony when the Escort for the Colour marches into position on Horse Guards Parade.
- Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules
- Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these.
- But of all the world's great heroes, there's none that can compare.
- With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, to the British Grenadiers.
- Those heroes of antiquity ne'er saw a cannon ball,
- Or knew the force of powder to slay their foes withal.
- But our brave boys do know it, and banish all their fears,
- Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers.
- Whene'er we are commanded to storm the palisades,
- Our leaders march with fusees, and we with hand grenades.
- We throw them from the glacis, about the enemies' ears.
- Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
- And when the siege is over, we to the town repair.
- The townsmen cry, "Hurrah, boys, here comes a Grenadier!
- Here come the Grenadiers, my boys, who know no doubts or fears!
- Then sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
- Then let us fill a bumper, and drink a health to those
- Who carry caps and pouches, and wear the loupèd clothes.
- May they and their commanders live happy all their years.
- With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers.
There are a number of words in the song which are not in current usage:[1]
- Fusees - The Grenadier officers carried fusees - fusils, or muskets rather than bombs.
- Glacis - A term in the science of fortification, referring to the smooth sloping embankment that usually preceded the pit in front of the walls of a fort. Designed to deflect cannonballs, but also a dangerously exposed place to stand throwing grenades.
- Bumper - A bumper was any container that could be used to clink with another reveler's bumper in a toast to someone's health. It could be filled with beer, canary, grog, sack, posset, cider, ale, shrub or punch. It usually referred to a handled vessel such as a (pewter or ceramic) beer-mug or (leathern) jack, but it could refer to a (horn or pewter) beaker or even to a (treen, pewter or silver) punchbowl that could be picked up and passed around for everyone to quaff.
- Louped clothes - (pronounced "loup-ed" in order for it to scan) It means 'looped', and may refer to the lace (those 'bastion loops') common to all Redcoats. Other sources suggest that it refers to the shoulder 'wings' worn by Grenadiers.
- toe row row - Refers to forming up in rows in a straight line.. with toes on the line.
- The tune was used by Joseph Warren, one of the leaders of the American Revolution, when he wrote the lyrics to a song called Free Amerikay.
- The tune occurs as the main theme of the finale of the fourth piano concerto of Ignaz Moscheles.
- The song A Transport of Delight by Flanders and Swann begins with the words
- Some people like a motorbike, Some say a tram for me, deliberately set to the same melody. Another F&S version begins "Some speak of a Lagonda, some like a smaty MG."
- The tune was used as the startup theme for Associated-Rediffusion, when they made the first British commercial television broadcast in September 1955. British Grenadiers was used alongside Blithe Spirit by Richard Addinsell for at least another year.
- In the movies Horatio Hornblower, The Patriot, 55 Days at Peking, Barry Lyndon, Empire of the Sun, Sharpe's Company, The Italian Job and The Four Feathers, "The British Grenadiers" is played. It can also be heard at the end of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.
- The opening bars of Howard Goodall's theme to Blackadder Goes Forth also quote the piece.
- The song is also the regimental song to the Fort Henry Guard, a generic military regiment representing a British regiment of 1867 in British North America. The guard are part of the living museum at Fort Henry, Ontario.
- During the episode 'Merry Christmas Mr.Bean', Mr.Bean hums the song whilst playing with Queen's Royal Guards figurines.
- The tune is used in a PC game entitled 'Sid Meier's Pirates' to represent the English presence in the Caribbean.
- ^ a b "British Grenadiers". The First Foot Guards reenactment group. Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
- ^ Ryan, Cornelius (1974). A Bridge Too Far. New York: Simon & Schuster, 670. ISBN 0-6712-1792-5.
- Easybyte - free easy piano arrangement of "British Grenadiers March" plus midi sound file
- Lyrics and some explanation of unusual words
- The Virtual Grammophone, Canadian Historical Sound Recordings, Marches, British Grenadiers (regimental march of the Canadian Grenadier Guards) ram (RealPlayer)
- The official site of the Grenadier Guards Band.