| AKA | Dear Old Blighty |
| First Published | 1916 |
| Writer/composer | AJ Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott | Roud | RN10669 |
| Music Hall Performers | Ouida Macdermott, Lily Morris, Ella Retford, Dorothy Ward, Daisy Wood, Florrie Forde |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Stewart, Lucy; Scotland : Aberdeenshire; 1960 Costello, Cecilia; England : Warwickshire ; 1967 Mills, Bob England : Hampshire : Winchester 1978 Bunn, Walter; England : Birmingham; 1987 Hall. Mabs; England : Sussex; 1989 Kane, Alice; Northern Ireland; early 20th century |
Jack Dunn son of a gun over in France today* Keeps fit doing his bit, up to his eyes in clay Each night after the fight, to pass the time along He's got a little gramophone that plays this song. Take me back to dear old Blighty Put me on a train to London Town Take me over there, drop me anywhere Birmingham, Leeds, or Manchester, well, I don't care I should love to see my best girl Cuddling up again we soon would be, Whoa Tidley-idley-iti, hurry me home to Blighty Blighty is the place for me. Bill Spry started to fly up in an aeroplane In France taking a chance, wished he was down again Poor Bill feeling so ill, yelled out to pilot Brown 'Steady a bit, yer fool, we're turning upside down.' Jock Lee having his tea, says to his pal Mac Fayne 'Look chum, apple and plum, it's apple and plum again Same stuff isn't it rough, fed up with it I am Oh for a pot of Aunt Elizer's raspberry jam.' One day, Mickey O' Shea, stood in a trench somewhere So brave, having a shave, trying to part his hair Mickey yells (dodging the shells and lumps of dynamite) Talk of the Crystal Palace on a fireworks night. * [or] Jack Dunn strafing the Hun somewhere in France today
A song written for the Halls by the prolific AJ Mills , Bennett Scott and Fred Godfrey, it was widely sung by soldiers and sailors. It comes from a time when the songs of the Halls had started to move away from jingoistic recruiting songs. Whilst the songs of this period in no way reflected the full horrors of the fighting, they at least recognised that the battlefield was a place servicemen longed to escape from. The full and fascinating story of this song can be found on the excellent Fred Godfrey website.
Its one of the early 20th century songs that was not particularly associated with one performer.
It has been collected from several late 2oth century traditional singers – the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library has recordings of Bob Mills and Cecilia Costello singing it
In the early 2oth century songs were often printed on postcards, like these from Bamforth and Co:
Florrie Forde sings it:
A very different interpretation by Kevin Coyne in 1978:
Sources:
- VWML entry
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Sheet Music: Personal Collection
- Postcards: Personal collection
Last Updated on March 22, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: March 18, 2023
