{"id":10518,"date":"2021-05-09T14:19:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-09T14:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=10518"},"modified":"2023-10-30T15:54:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T15:54:08","slug":"babys-name-the","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/babys-name-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby’s name, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This song reflects racist, misogynist and colonial ideas that were commonplace at the time but are no longer acceptable today.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Boer War song
The War, War, the blooming war<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1900<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>CW Murphy and Albert Hall<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN21229<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Charles Bignell<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Pennock, Billy; England : Yorkshire; 1962
Forbes, Annie; Scotland : Caithness; 1968
Nesling, Harkie; England : Suffolk; 1971
Hall, Mabs; England: Suffolk; 1989
Hall, Gordon; England: Sussex; 1989<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The War, the War, the blooming war, has turned my wife insane\nFrom Kruger to Majuba she's the Transvaal on the brain\nAnd when to christen our first child, last Sunday week we tried\nThe parson said, 'What's this child's name?' and my old girl replied,\n\nThe baby's name is Kitchener, Carington, Methuen, Kekewich, White\nCronje, Plummer, Powell, Majuba, Gatacre, Warren, Colenso, Kruger\nCapetown, Mafeking, French, Kimberley, Ladysmith, 'bobs'\nUnion Jack and Fighting Mac, Lyddite, Pretoria, Blobbs.'<\/em>\n\nThe parson said, 'Such names I can't upon this infant pop.'\nBut my wife broke his rolling veldt and smashed his Spion Cop\nShe jumped upon his Kroonstad, and she never made a miss\nSaid she, 'I'll burst your armoured train, if you don't think of this,\n\nShe tore the parson's flag of truce, then burst his Jacobsdal\nShe pushed his Modder River right into his shrapnel shell\nShe kicked his mounted infantry, till his Bloemfontein was sore\nThen she did a flanking movement, and she shouted out once more,<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A song made famous in the halls by Charles Bignell, mocking the strange sounding names that filled the news as a result of the Boer War. Perhaps it’s also mocking some of the patriotic songs that featured heavily in the halls at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its an example of a tongue twister song, and I suspect one of the reasons it was remembered by several traditional singers in the later 20th century is that it was so hard to learn in the first place that once it was committed to memory it stayed there!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The entry at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library<\/a> has links to several recordings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles Bignell ( 1866-1935)<\/strong> biography will appear here (def died after 33)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk\/viewer\/bl\/0000957\/19380806\/055\/0005<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosmotheka sing it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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