Rose of No Man's Land, The

DESCRIPTION: "I've seen some beautiful flowers Grow in my garden fair... But I have found another, Wondrous beyond compare. There's a rose that grows on No Man's Land... Mid the War's great curse, Stands the Red Cross Nurse, She's the rose of No Man's Land"
AUTHOR: Words: Jack Caddigan / Music: James Alexander Brennan
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (French sheet music)
KEYWORDS: flowers soldier | nurse
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Howson-SongsSunginSuffolk, #23, "The Rose of No Man's Land" (1 text)
Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver, p. 128, "The Rose of No Man's Land" (1 text)
Pegler-SoldiersSongsAndSlangoftheGreatWar, pp. 274-275, "The Rose of No Man's Land" (1 text)
FolkSongAndMusicHall, "Rose of no man’s land, The"
DT, ROSENOMN
Roud #10704
NOTES [118 words]: The Wikipedia entry on the song (checked July 29, 2023) states that the French version of the song, "La rose sous les boulets," was published in 1918 with lyrics by Louis Delamarre. The English then was published by Jack Caddigan and James Alexander Brennan. It was not the only English translation, but it was the one that became best known. The Wikipedia article is very unclear about the publication history, but I have not seen it elucidated elsewhere.
Pegler-SoldiersSongsAndSlangoftheGreatWar says that the song dates to 1916, not 1918, but Pegler is unreliable enough that I have not listed that date. The English version, at least, is reported to be about the VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) Nurses. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: AWTBW128

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