Overture from Captain Blood by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

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Originally posted by SPOR2:
You watch too much Ally McBeal...

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Those chickens better damn well scurry. Because I'm still not thru with them. I'll be back with another chain of chicken restaurants. Just you wait. And H. Rocco & Chris Kinsinger will be begging on their knees for a take-out order. TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME.

THE BRITISH GRENADIER, along with LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY, RULE BRITANNIA, GOD SAVE THE KING (or Queen), and JERUSALEM, is one of the most recognizable and distinctive of British ‘anthems’.

What makes THE BRITISH GRENADIER especially loveable to me, is its history. Originating from the 17th century, at a time when Britain’s world colonization and empire building was gaining momentum after the Dutch, Spanish, French and Portuguese had gained a significant ‘head start’, THE BRITISH GRENADIER has been a popular martial song throughout Britain’s great imperial history.

Not only was THE BRITISH GRENADIER used extensively during the Napoleonic wars 1790’s – 1815, at which time Britain gained supremacy of all the world’s oceans (a supremacy it would maintain well into the 20th century), it also figured during the various wars Britain fought in Afghanistan, Africa, China and India, and against Japan during the 18th and 19th centuries, and even in the South African Boer was of 1899-1902, in which Britain defeated the rebellious Dutch colonists within Her Majesty’s African territory.

THE BRITISH GRENADIER is also popularly associated with Britain’s various North American campaigns against the French colonists and their Indian allies. Ever since English settlement of North America began with the Virginian (named for Queen Elizabeth I of England, the ‘Virgin Queen’) and Plymouth colonies, the British were at loggerheads with the French (the Dutch never took their colonies seriously, thus they capitulated under the lightest of British pressure, and the Spanish largely concentrated on the less important south of the continent). However, it should be remembered that all of the Anglo-French North American conflicts, up until the War of Independence (1775-1783), were just small elements of a global conflict that saw Britain lock horns with its rapidly diminishing Imperial rivals (France, Spain, Holland and Portugal) in South America, Africa, Asia, and in Europe itself.

The first serious conflict between Britain and France in North America, King William of England’s War (1689-1697), also featured the song THE BRITISH GRENADIER. Two more wars followed, Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) and King George’s War (1744-1748), before the decisive French and Indian War of 1754-1763 confirmed Britain as masters of all North America, and even after the War of Independence ensured that the English language, institutions and culture, would remain dominant in North America to this day.

The French and Indian War began over the specific issue of whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British Empire, and the English crown and its 13 American colonies seized the opportunity to vanquish the culturally alien French from North America once and for all.

It was during the French and Indian War that an Englishman wrote the popular song YANKEE DOODLE to taunt the rather bedraggled American militia that joined the spit and polished British army, led by General Braddock, at Niagara. It was only during the War of Independence that the rebellious British American colonists made the song THEIRS.

Throughout all of the British campaigns in North America, THE BRITISH GRENADIER, was the most popular marching song, and to this day remains so throughout Britain’s former empire, from Canada to Pakistan.

THE BRITISH GRENADIER has also figured prominently in many many movies. 1936’s LAST OF THE MOHICANS portrayed the brave and disciplined British army marching to war against the North American Indians to this most patriotic of tunes. As did the wonderful Spencer Tracy movie NORTHWEST PASSAGE (1940), set in Canada. Max Steiner incorporated the march into his CAPTAIN’S OF THE CLOUDS (1942) score, a James Cagney wartime propaganda movie focusing on the Royal Canadian Airforce. THE BRITISH GRENADIER was also used to great effect in the wonderful THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943), in which the superb Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, and Anton Walbrook, recreate the essence of what Britain is about. THE BRITISH GRENADIER even pops up in such movies as THE IPCRESS FILE (1965) and THE EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987), to name but a couple of a very many.
Here are the popular lyrics to THE BRITISH GRENADIER.

Some talk of Alexander,
And some of Hercules
Of Hector and Lysander,
And such great names as these.
But of all the world's great heroes,
There's none that can compare
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row,
To the British Grenadier.

2. 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,
Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row,
For the British Grenadier.

3. 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.
Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row,
The British Grenadiers.

4. And when the siege is over,
We to the town repair
The townsmen cry, "Hurra, 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,
The British Grenadiers.

5. Then let us fill a bumper,
And drink a health to those
Who carry caps and pouches,
And wear the louped clothes.
May they and their commanders
Live happy all their years
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row,
For the British Grenadiers.

As the name implies, grenadiers were soldiers assigned with the task of throwing grenades. The grenade of the time (late 17th century) was a hollow iron ball, filled with gun powder and sealed with a wooden plug which contained the fuse. To ignite the grenade the grenadier carried a borning piece of cord called a slow match. When not in use, the slow match was placed into a small brass case with holes that was attached to the grenadier's shoulder belt. This match case continued to be worn by grenadiers long after the grenade had been abandoned as an effective weapon.

Every time he handled his match and grenade it was necessary first for the grenadier to free his hands of his musket by slinging it crossways over his shoulder. The soldier's usual large brimmed hat proved awkward when doing this because, while passing over the soldier's head, the sling would catch on the brim. A new headdress was therefore needed for the grenadiers. The mitre cap answered this need and was adopted by the grenadiers of the British Army at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Inspiteof its early introduction, orders regulating the appearance of the Mitre caps were not issued until 1743. The design established in 1743 remained virtually the same until the 1760s when it evolved into the first model of the bearskin cap.

The origins of THE BRITISH GRENADIERS’ melody are unknown, but the tune was first heard during Elizabethan times (late 16th century). However, the popular lyrics, as detailed above, would have been written around 1678, when the regiment was created.

Holy F***!!

My theme: The Emperor Arrives from Return of the Jedi

I'm sure there's no hidden meaning to that!!

Which part of the EMPIRE OF THE SUN album showcases "Grenadiers"? I'd be curious to hear it. (The answer probably being something like "That cue called 'British Grenadiers,' you dope." But I haven't even SEEN my copy of that album in quite a while. I always felt that emotionally it "peaked" rather early, with "Cadillac of the Skies," but that's a separate issue. So -- whither "Grenadiers"?)

(Speaking of "Cadillac of the Skies," that's an emotionally wrenching scene and piece of music both: young Jim ecstatic at the sight of bombers in the air, able to identify them by make and model, and then the music tapering off into desolation as he realizes he knows what the PLANES are, but he can't remember what his mother's face looks like.)

Re "Cadillac of the Skies" - I've seen the movie only once, years ago, so I can't remember much. But I'd bet in the movie this cue appears much later, right? So it's once again one of those highlight-at-the-beginning Williams albums.

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Originally posted by JoeInSanDiego:
although some people on this board might like to add any cue from Alien...and who am I to dispute that?

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Yes, I do know Empire of the Sun very well, and love it as the masterpiece it genuinely is.

(Oh, NOW I've done it ... )

Why, Erich Wolfgang Korngold's main title for "The Sea Hawk" of course!

A fine tribute to Williams, well said.

I must admit that I’m not a great fan of martial music, myself. It is what THE BRITISH GRENADIERS, and other British military anthems, stands for that really appeals. The history of the song THE BRITISH GRENADIERS is so important, at least to me. THE BRITISH GRENADIERS epitomises Britain’s great imperial past, this piece of music has followed the courageous Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English regiments of the British army to all corners of the globe.

However, I fully appreciate that for some, what THE BRITISH GRENADIERS represents is as much a reason to dislike the song as the style of the music itself. Many people, even in Britain, would prefer to play down Britain’s imperial history, massively important though it is, though current events in Zimbabwe provide a rather jarring reminder. My own interest in Britain’s imperial past is born more out of academic interest than any misplaced jingoistic national pride. The British Empire has gone, only its ghost, the Commonwealth , continues to bind its disparate elements with an increasingly fragile and slender thread.

Obviously the British Empire did many good things, but I am the first to accept that much of Britain’s past is tainted by acts of brutality and crimes against humanity. The decimation of the North American Indian, the persecution of the Irish, the savage and inhuman annihilation of the Dutch in South Africa (here the British invented the concentration camp, albeit unwittingly), the treatment of millions of native Africans (the destruction of their culture and the promotion of the slave trade), the Opium Wars which saw the British saturation of China with opium that set that nation back by two hundred years, the displacement of the aborigine from Australia, New Zealand and many Pacific island nations, the blunders and incompetence surrounding the loss of the 13 British American colonies, Britain’s withdrawal from Palestine and the complex difficulties that still exist surrounding the formation of Israel, and the suppression of the peoples of the Indian subcontinent.

Perhaps the British Empire should be forgotten?

But no, of course *I* don’t really believe that. The above events, horrible though they are, would probably have been more severe and numerous if almost any other nation had been in Britain’s position of strength – witness the Spanish in South America. Britain has done so much good also, the English language, British custom, law, institutions, and tradition has established itself throughout the world. Britain abolished the slave trade within the British Empire very early on. Not only that, British imperialism was more about construction and presence, rather than the plunder and oppression of the Spanish. Even the French were poor imperial masters, usually controlling their territories with unfairness, corruption and a high degree of incompetence.

I have to laugh. I was watching a 1962 British movie the other day called THE DAMNED (movie * score ** (James Bernard)). In it, Macdonald Carey played an American holidaying in the English south-coast resort of Weymouth. During his stay in Weymouth, Carey is viciously beaten up by Oliver Reed’s gang of Mods. Local military man Alexander Know commented wryly, ‘…you probably thought England was full of old ladies knitting pullovers……’.

I find it very amusing that many regard the British people in that light, you know, genteel, quaint, tea-guzzling etc. The British people have proved themselves the most adventurous, courageous and romantic of people throughout the past one thousand years. Not only that, the British Isles contains some of the greatest regional differences found on Earth, considering the small size of the United Kingdom. To talk of the British collectively, one talks of humanity itself, in all of its variety, diversity and depth.

But that’s the beauty of the United Kingdom, whatever the troubles at home or abroad, the British people remain equanimitous, always willing to give the benefit of the doubt, and yet when roused (as in WWII) are more than a match for the most determined of foes. One can always count on the British, sixty million people of incredibly diverse dialect, culture, religion and character, crammed into a collection of tiny, but beautiful, islands.

The list goes on...

Are you really a dustman? For if you are, and I have said variations of this before, you may well have missed your calling -- for you are so manifestly a teacher of history -- if still only an amateur one. You've got the chops to be a "real" one, however. And I say that as someone who's studied a LOT of history, from a LOT of people.

Cheerio, Mr. 2.

(Have you been to the slate mines in Wales? They shot parts of THE KEEP there. I loved it. The mines, not the movie, I mean. And I agree, you reside upon a MOST beautiful and MOST varied territory.)