British Grenadiers, The

DESCRIPTION: "Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules... And such great men as these..." but none can compare, "with a row- row-row, row-row-row To the British Grenadiers." The prowess of the Grenadiers is praised, and toasts are offered to them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1823 (_Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine_, Vol. XIV, No. LXXVIII, p. 9)
KEYWORDS: soldier drink battle nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Logan-APedlarsPack, pp. 109-112, "The British Grenadiers" (plus parody, "Aitcheson's Carabineers")
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 152-153, "The British Grenadiers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge-OldEnglishPopularMusic I, pp. 262-264, "Nancy; or, Sir Edward Noel's Delight; or All You That Love Good Fellows" (3 tunes, reputed to be ancestor of this song although Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime links it to "The Valiant London Apprentice" [Laws Q38])
Winstock-SongsAndMusicOfTheRedcoats, pp. 31-33, "British Grenadiers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 36, "The British Grenadiers" (1 tune, partial text)
Fireside-Book-of-Folk-Songs, p. 198, "The British Grenadiers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Heart-Songs, pp. 44-45, "The British Grenadiers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jolly-Miller-Songster-5thEd, #20, "The British Grenadiers" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 279, "The British Grenadiers" (1 text)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, pp. 153-154+, "The British Grenadiers"
DT, BRITGREN*
ST Log109 (Full)
Roud #11231?
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Cornwallis's Surrender" (tune)
cf. "Free America" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Free America (File: Arn014)
Lord Cornwallis's Surrender (File: SBoA088)
1815-1915 (There Was a Brave Old Scotchie) (File: NeTT097)
Eight Hour Day (Sing Out!, Volume 28, #3 (1980), pp. 28-29)
The New Masacusetts Liberty Song ("That Seat of Science Athen's, and Earth's great Mistress Rome") (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 37; Rabson-SongbookOfTheAmericanRevolution, pp. 22-23; also used as the frontispiece)
Washington: A Favorite New Song in the American Camp ("Vain Britons, boast no longer with proud Indignity") (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 63)
NOTES [112 words]: That this song is old is obvious. Logan-APedlarsPack argues that the words must date from between 1678 (when the Grenadier companies were formed) and the reign of Queen Anne (died 1714), when Grenadiers ceased to carry grenades and became simply elite troops. The earlier date is fairly solid; the latter, of course, has the problem that a songwriter might not know that grenadiers had become a general term.
The same problems attend the tune. Fuld reports on various prints from around 1750, and the various parodies and adaptions categorically date it before 1780. It appears the tune is much older (and may not even be British), but no precise data can be offered. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: Log109

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