Sebastopol (Old England's Gained the Day; Capture and Destruction of Sebastopol; Cheer, Boys, Cheer)

DESCRIPTION: "Cheer lads, cheer! the enemy is quaking ... our foes we did defeat, ... Sebastopol is taken." Pellisier and Simpson lead the French and English "their cannons loud did rattle ... and the flags of France and England waved on Sebastopol."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Smith/Hatt/Fowke-SeaSongsBalladFromNineteenthCenturyNovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: army battle war England France Russia shanty
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sep 9, 1855 - Fall of Sevastopol following an 11 month siege
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Smith/Hatt/Fowke-SeaSongsBalladFromNineteenthCenturyNovaScotia, p. 31, "Old England's Gained the Day" (1 text)
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 428-429, "Sebastopol" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 322-323]
Hill-PoemsAndSongsOfTheCivilWar, p. 219, "Cheer, Boys, Cheer" (1 short text, speaking of England rather than the Civil War; I suspect it is a modified version of this song)
ST SmHa041 (Partial)
Roud #8293
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(215) , "Capture and Destruction of Sebastopol" ("Cheer lads, cheer! the enemy is quaking"), A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1855?; Firth b.25(586), "Capture and Destruction of Sebastopol"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Newfoundland and Sebastopol" (subject, theme)
cf. "Cheer, Boys, Cheer!" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian Firth b.26(215) and Bodleian Firth b.25(586))
NOTES [158 words]: Bodleian, Harding B 26(95), "Cheer, Boys Cheer, for the Fall of Sebastopol" ("Cheer lads cheer, for Brittannia's sons none bolder"), J. Moore (Belfast), 1846-1852 [not possible] is a similar broadside.
Smith/Hatt/Fowke-SeaSongsBalladFromNineteenthCenturyNovaScotia has this fragment as a capstan shanty. - BS
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas also has it as a capstan shanty, and calls it a "broken-down version of the original march, or rather of its chorus. The original march tune was known as the 'Loth-to-depart.'" - [RBW, BS]
There are quite a few other broadsides floating around called "Cheer, Boys, Cheer," celebrating other events. I haven't seen any evidence that they're traditional. Similarly, Charles Mackay wrote "Cheer Boys! Cheer! No More of Idle Sorrow," with music set by Henry Russell, but it never seems to have escaped from the straitjacket of sheet music. (If you want to see it, it's in Scott-EnglishSongBook, pp. 86-87.) - RBW
Last updated in version 3.2
File: SmHa041

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