The exact origins of the tune are disputed but generally date to the early 17th century. It appears in John Playford's 1728 collection of dance tunes as "The New Bath", while Victorian musicologist William Chappell also suggested links to a 1622 work called "Sir Edward Nowell's Delight". The debate is best summarised by the composer Ernest Walker in 1907 who described the melody as "three centuries' evolution of an Elizabethan tune".[2]
"The British Grenadiers" refers to grenadiers in general, not the Grenadier Guards Regiment, and all Fusilier units were entitled to use it. It allegedly commemorates an assault in August 1695 by 700 British grenadiers on the French-held fortress of Namur during the Nine Years War.[4] A tune known as 'The Granadeer's March' was mentioned in a London publication in 1706, although it is not clear that it was the same melody known today.[5]Francis Grose in his 1786 work Military Antiquities quoted two lines of the lyrics ("Come let us fill a bumper, and drink a health to those,/Who wear the caps and pouches, and eke the looped clothes") as part of a "grenadier song" he already considered to be "old".[6]
It was a popular tune in both Britain and North America throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and remains so.[7] It is most commonly heard today in the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony when the Colour Escort marches into position on Horse Guards Parade.[8]
Lyrics
The following text may date back to the War of Spanish Succession (1702–1713), since it refers to the grenadiers throwing grenades and the men wearing "caps and pouches" (i.e. the tall grenadier caps,[9] worn by these elite troops, and the heavy satchel[10] in which grenades were carried) and "loupèd clothes" – coats with broad bands of 'lace' across the chest that distinguished early grenadiers.[11]
Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules
Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these.
But of all the world's brave 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,
With a 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.[n 1]
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, for 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, for the British Grenadiers.
Then let us fill a bumper, and drink a health of those
Who carry caps and pouches, and wear the loopèd clothes.
May they and their commanders live happy all their years.
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers.
Before the American Revolution, Joseph Warren wrote a parody song called "Free America" to the same tune.
Historical terms
Grenadiers are shown at right. Their officer wields a fusee.
There are a number of words in the song not commonly used or whose meaning is obscure:[12]
Fusee: shortened muskets carried by Grenadier officers, sometimes called fusils.[n 2] This is accurately depicted in David Morier's painting of the Highland charge at the Battle of Culloden: the Government troops are grenadiers and their officer wields a fusil.
Glacis: a smooth sloping embankment usually in front of the walls of a fort; designed to deflect cannonballs, it also gave defenders a clear field of fire, making it a dangerous place to stand upright and throw grenades.
Bumper: any drinking container used in a toast, normally filled with beer or other alcoholic drink.
Loupèd: 'looped' pronounced "loup-ed" to scan; it refers to the lace button-holes or 'loops' on grenadier uniforms.
Tow, row, row, row: mimics the rhythm and beat of the drums used to keep soldiers in step.
In popular culture
Like "Rule, Britannia!", the song is frequently used in film and television to introduce a British setting or character, or indicate stereotypical Britishness.
Alistair Ramson in the Sherlock Holmes film The Scarlet Claw sings this song when he is disguised as the character Postman Potts, delivering mail to Emile Journet.
The character Mr. Bucket in the Dickens novel Bleak House plays this song by fife in Chapter 49.
The tune is heard by the protagonist rifleman Dodd of the British Army in C. S. Forester's Death to the French when he rejoins his unit.
The tune is played in the anime Girls und Panzer when St. Gloriana's Girl's College is on screen.
In the fourth series of Blackadder (Blackadder Goes Forth), theme composer Howard Goodall incorporated the first two bars of the march into the series theme song, with the third and fourth being added into the full version of the theme.[13]
The tune – with a different trio section – was used as the Regimental March of the Hanoverian Grenadier Guards in Hannover, Germany, until 1866. It had also been taken into the Royal Prussian Army March Collection's Second Volume (Quick marches) earlier, as Army March AM II, 52, during 1821.
"Some people like a motorbike, / Some say, 'A tram for me', / Or for any bonnie lorry they'd lay them doon and dee" (alternatively, "Some talk of a Lagonda, / Some like a smart MG / ...") is the beginning of "A Transport of Delight" set to the same melody by Flanders and Swann.
A rather bawdy version exists about the grenadier suffering and spreading syphilis. This song is well known and popular as a drinking song amongst historical re-enactors.[citation needed]
The character of Daniel Hagman (played by actor and musician John Tams) in the TV film Sharpe's Mission sings this song just prior to the climax of the film.
The melody is used as the basis for Hornet Squadron's song in Piece of Cake, with new lyrics.
"The British Grenadiers" is also the Regimental Quick March of the Fort Henry Guard. It is also frequently used by the Drill Squad of the Guard as a marching song.
For 20th-century Northern (US) Baptist and Disciples of Christ hymnals, the tune, called "Sheffield", or "Sheffield (English)" to distinguish it from other tunes named "Sheffield", is commonly set to the text "Hail to the Lord's Anointed" by James Montgomery.[14]
The song appears on the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes, in the last two episodes of the series.
The Fall song "Gross Chapel-British Grenadiers" incorporates a section of the song.
In the AMC series Turn: Washington's Spies, Captain Simcoe of the British Army hums the tune during Episode 3, Season 1 ("Of Cabbages and Kings") to antagonize his American captors when he believes a Tory militia is on the way.
Season 4, Episode 5 of The Crown ends with the tune playing while Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher waves at a victory parade following the Falklands War.
In Season 1, Episode 8 of Ghosts,[verification needed] the British soldiers march in and out to fife accompaniment of this song.
Alongside "Remove Kebab" and Arthur Brown's "Fire", this song was played on Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant's loudspeakers as he parked his car near Al Noor Mosque and walks outside before starting the massacre which killed 51 and injured 40.[15][16]
The Original 1750s Lyrics to The British Grenadiers Shows how the lyrics evolved from a soldier's song to something more palatable to the educated classes of British society. There was no "bumper", "looped" or "tow row row row" in the original version of the song. The first words began: "Some boast of Alexander".
