"Heart of Oak" is the official march of the Royal Navy. It is also the official march of several Commonwealth navies, including the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy. It was the official march of the Royal Australian Navy, but has now been replaced by the new march, "Royal Australian Navy".
Bonnie Dundee is the title of a poem and a song written by Walter Scott in 1825 in honour of John Graham, 7th Laird of Claverhouse, who was created 1st Viscount Dundee in November 1688, then in 1689 led a Jacobite rising in which he died, becoming a Jacobite hero.
"Tom o' Bedlam" is the title of an anonymous poem in the "mad song" genre, written in the voice of a homeless "Bedlamite". The poem was probably composed at the beginning of the 17th century. In How to Read and Why Harold Bloom called it "the greatest anonymous lyric in the [English] language."
Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy is the title of a large collection of songs by Thomas d'Urfey, published between 1698 and 1720, which in its final, six-volume edition held over 1,000 songs and poems. The collection started as a single book compiled and published by Henry Playford who had succeeded his father John Playford as the leading music publisher of the period. Over the next two decades, Pills went through various editions and expanded into five volumes; in 1719 Thomas D'Urfey reordered and added to the work to produce a new edition with the title Songs Compleat, Pleasant and Divertive, published by Jacob Tonson. Volumes I and II now consisted entirely of songs with words by D'Urfey, "Set to Musick by Dr. John Blow, Mr. Henry Purcell, and other excellent masters of the town". The edition sold out quickly and in the second printing D'Urfey reverted to the Pills title. He added Volume 6 in 1720. The title itself may derive from a 1599 pamphlet "A Pil to Purge Melancholie".
"The Water Is Wide" is a folk song of British origin. It remains popular in the 21st century. Cecil Sharp published the song in Folk Songs From Somerset (1906).
"Streets of Laredo", also known as "The Dying Cowboy", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying ranger tells his story to another cowboy. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
For The Dear Old Flag, I Die is an American Civil War song. It was originally a poem written by George Cooper. The music by Stephen Foster was later added in. The song interprets the last words of a drummer boy who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg.
"Sussex by the Sea" is a song written in 1907 by William Ward-Higgs, often considered to be the unofficial county anthem of Sussex. It became well known throughout Sussex and is regularly sung at celebrations throughout the county. It can be heard during many sporting events in the county, during the Sussex bonfire celebrations and it is played by marching bands and Morris dancers across Sussex. It is the adopted song of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, Sussex Division Royal Naval Reserve, Sussex Association of Naval Officers and Sussex County Cricket Club.
"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19621.
"Hard Times Come Again No More" is an American parlor song written by Stephen Foster. It was published in New York City by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1854 as Foster's Melodies No. 28. Well-known and popular in its day, both in the United States and Europe, the song asks the fortunate to consider the plight of the less fortunate and includes one of Foster's favorite images: "a pale drooping maiden".
The Red Hussar is a comedy opera in three acts by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens, concerning a young ballad singer who disguises herself as a Hussar to follow her penniless beloved to France. By a feat of gallantry, she saves his life and is promoted to the rank of sergeant. It turns out that she is a rich heiress, and all ends happily.
Feste is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night. He is a fool attached to the household of the Countess Olivia. He has apparently been there for some time, as he was a "fool that the Lady Olivia's father took much delight in" (2.4). Although Olivia's father has died within the last year, it is possible that Feste approaches or has reached middle age, though he still has the wit to carry off good 'fooling' when he needs to, and the voice to sing lustily or mournfully as the occasion demands. He is referred to by name only once during the play, in answer to an inquiry by Orsino of who sang a song that he heard the previous evening. Curio responds "Feste, the jester, my lord; a fool that the lady Olivia's father took much delight in. He is about the house" (2.4). Throughout the rest of the play, he is addressed only as "Fool," while in the stage directions he is mentioned as "Clown."
"The Trees They Grow So High" is a Scottish folk song. The song is known by many titles, including "The Trees They Do Grow High", "Daily Growing", "Long A-Growing" and "Lady Mary Ann".
"Never Grow Old" usually refers to an old Southern Gospel song of the same name, technically called "Where We'll Never Grow Old", written by James Cleveland Moore, Sr. on April 22, 1914. It has been included on many religious-themed audio compilations, and has been covered by many singers, including Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves, Bill and Gloria Gather, the Carter Family, and Aretha Franklin.
"Hard Tack, Come Again No More" is an American Civil War-era parody of the song "Hard Times, Come Again No More." First called "Hard Crackers, Come Again No More!", it is a sarcastic complaint about the quality of some of the provisions provided by military contractors, specifically hardtack. The authors of the many verses of the parody are unknown, although the first version is often attributed to Josiah Fowler of the First Iowa Infantry dating to just after the Battle of Boonville, June 1861.
"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! " was one of the most popular songs of the American Civil War. George F. Root wrote both the words and music and published it in 1864 to give hope to the Union prisoners of war. The song is written from the prisoner's point of view. The chorus tells his fellow prisoners that hope is coming. A Confederate version and various other versions have been made.
"Any Old Port in a Storm" is a popular song composed by Kerry Mills with lyrics by Arthur J. Lamb. Published in 1908, it has been recorded many times. The lyrics as published:
"Blow the Wind Southerly" is a traditional English folk song from Northumbria. It tells of a woman desperately hoping for a southerly wind to blow her lover back home over the sea to her. It is Roud number 2619.
"The Cliffs of Old Tynemouth" is a Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by David Ross Lietch. This song is a ballad, romanticising about one of the tourist sights of the Tyneside area.
"The West Virginia Hills" is one of West Virginia's four state songs.
