Poem ~ Gurney: Trench Songs - Sunday, 1 April 1917 - Monday, 2 April 1917

Impression sketch of Ivor Gurney composing music in a disused mortar trench by Jamie

With promising abilities as musician,

A scholarship for young Ivor Gurney

Gained his place at Royal College of music, under

The tutorship of Charles Villers Stanford;

Yet a talented student was unteachable.

A personality of dynamism had been

Tainted by mood swings - effects hurt

His abilities to study. By 1913 Gurney succumbed

To a mental breakdown; on recovery

He returned, enlisting at war's start.

Poet and composer Gurney would

Not let war defer his need to create

Music  - summer 1916, Private Ivor Gurney sought

A quiet place on the front, to find this

In some disused mortar trench.

Within his pocket was a likely copy

Of a poem, sent him by Marion Scott.

John Masefield's 'By a Biersides,' centred on subject

Of death - sitting in an open box

Of earth Gurney set out his music.

In the very setting of Masefield's

Words, Gurney envisioned a scene;

Evoking a classical romanticised image of a dead

Greek hero, over which an oration

Is pronounced by a poet priest.

'A sacred city built of marvellous

Earth - Life was lived nobly here

To give such beauty birth.' These very lines had

Possessed him - a reflection of true war,

A city of trenches and army of youth.

There young death might give birth

To beauty with poetry set to music -

For living is turned on its head, where death

Opens unknown doors, to suggest

There is grandeur in dying youth.

From sun that spilled over trooper

Gurney's shoulder into that trench

Mortar hole, lit up a square of earth-stained paper

On which he composed - after which

He posted to Royal College of music.

A soldier as poet, enabled the mind

Of composer translated by musicians

Hands - from dirt to sanitised congratulations

By Mr Montague Muir-Mackenzie for

All students who had gone to war.

An annual Royal College of Music

Meeting, heard Muir-Mackenzie's words

Praise songs on earth-stained paper, passed by some

Sensitive censor - two compositions

Played might have included Bierside.

The first of Gurney's war songs,

By simple ambition called for a big

Voice to translate emotion and the shifts of musical

Moods, to reflect the composers

Struggle for his love of battle.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1917. Songs From The Trenches. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 March 1917. P.3. Col.3. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214420/Daily-Telegraph-March-30-1917.html> [Accessed: 01 April 2017].

Source: File: Teaching the Songs of Ivor Gurney: An Applied Studio Guide to the Utilization of Fourteen Songs. Available at: <https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1448468099&disposition=inline> [Accessed 01 April 2017]

Source: File: The Songs of Gurney and Ireland. A talk given by Ian Venables to the Ivor Gurney Society on the 11th May 2000. Available at: <http://ianvenables.com/gurney/> [Accessed 01 April 2017]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 01 April 2017). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214420/Daily-Telegraph-March-30-1917.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Songs Of War - Saturday, 13 May - Monday, 15 May 1916

Source: File: I'll make a man of you! (Tune: I Don't Want to be a Soldier) OhWhataLovelyWar [online] : <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x308MIPPUyA> [Accessed: 13 May 2016]

Source: File: Vesta Tilley. [online] See an original image at: <https://heroinesofthestage.wordpress.com/2014/08/09/miss-towards-heroines-of-the-stage/> [Accessed: 13 May 2016]

i

Kitchener replied with pointed finger,
When the Kaiser had started to huff -

While a country went willingly to war,

What better way for all the soldiers

To go, than to sing new catchy songs.

Already well known from before, the
Lyrics of 'Its a long way to Tipperary'

Were well suited to a marching song -
Without any suggested deeds of war,

Words evoked a longing for home.

Music and war had always travelled

Together, as already well established

By the Music Hall well before 1880s -

Popular Lilly Langtry and Marie Lloyd 

Were soon joined by new performers.

Vesta Tilley, readily known for her
Impersonations of men, with risqué 
Behaviour - to raise wary eyebrows
Playing her character 'Burlington

Bertie,' made her name before war.

ii

Vesta Tilley conceived characters

'Jack Tar Home from Sea' - another

Was 'Tommy In the Trench' - with

Husband Walter to commence a drive

For recruitment, gaining a new name.

Now Britain’s greatest recruitment

Sergeant, Great littlie Tilley sang

'Jolly Good Luck to the Girl Who

Loves a Soldier,' to bring men onto

Stage - persuading them how Army 

Was alright, but open to controversy.

'I’ve got a it of a Blighty one,' Tilley

Sang as a soldier glad to wounded

Home - not exactly what the war

Office wanted to hear – many songs

Had the power to inspire peoples

Patriotism and to gain manpower.

Song sources knew no borders -

With American tunes popularity 

Flows of songs emerged from pen

Of Wenrich, as in 'When You Wore

A Tulip - I Wore a Big Red Rose.'

iii

Back home pianos had centre

Place in many families’ parlors -

With boys away at war, families

Sang same songs as brothers,

Sons or fathers - old or new tunes
Marched them on the road to war.

In eager backing of government,

Propaganda and music became

Well matched - the medium stirred

Public to join British army - 'Keep 
The home Fires burning’ by Ford 
And Novella; a sweethearts ideal.

Brothers Felix and George Powell

Played the London Hippodrome. In

A break George wrote some lines

Of a song, that Felix had idly fitted 

Music too - only to see it as 'Piffle'
George stored it under song 'duds.'

iV

While across the water in New York,

Music publishers Day and Hunter

Decided to offer 100 guineas, to find

A marching song for fighting troops -

The Powell brothers looked at their

Rejected song to revise and enter.

Talents had by end of 1914, seen

Release by Mark Sheridan a singer

Of seaside songs, with 'Belgium Put

The Kibosh on the Kaiser' - inspired

By BEF's halt of the Schlieffen Plan.

A few moths passed - a telegram

To Powell brothers told them they

Had won first prize with composition,

'Pack Up your Troubles In Your Old

Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile’ -

Its popularity was in it's simplicity.

This song praised the Tommy who

Could remain cheery, in the worst

Conditions - with the simple luxury

Of a Lucifer match to light his fag,

All to return the Tommy's smile -

Powell brothers were onto a winner.

V

With the 'kitbag song' quick to prove

A hit, other older compositions were

Revived - the popular 'Mademoiselle

From Armentieres' made resurgence -

New, adaptable, French risqué words

Leading to claims by several writers.

Alternatively 'three German Officers

Crossed the Rhine' - depicted enemy

Having a jolly good time - to result

In illegitimacy, leading to birth of a fat

Prussian, to grow up without morals.

Other words told how Mademoiselle

Had not been kissed for some forty

Years - while a more demure Colette,

With sea-blue eyes, was seen by

Lawyer Frederic Weatherly - a lady

Who evoked the Roses of Picardy.

One night Frederic Weatherly travelled

Home by London bus when suddenly

The refrain hit the lawyer - he jumped

To the street to stand beneath a lamp,

Putting down the idea on an envelope.

With subject of a love affair, music sheet
Sales quickly hit record 50,000 monthly -

Sentimental Images of Colette in Picardy

Prompted eager young men to sing while
Waiting to enlist for France and Flanders.

Vi

As a weapon of war, songs

Played their part, popularised

By the singers of the day - those

Early volunteers in rallying, sang
Of kitbags and roses - out to hit

The Kaiser only to yearn for home.

Both comedians and singers

Were playing their parts - along

With government policies, to be

The official and unofficial drivers

To recruitment, as civil heroes.

In new stars of stage and song

These included Harry Champion,

Harry Lauder, George Formby,

Gertie Gitana, Marie Lloyd

And Vesta Tilley, among many

Others, to set the pace of time.

Vii

Many artists and composers

Took inspirations, whose lyrics

Cleverly caught a keen public -

Writers Wimperis and Finck

Worked out the ultimate song

For voluntary recruitment rallys.

Calling out to youngest men by

A flirty lady, who dated military

Men - the purpose of her task,

As sung by Minnie Love, would

Make them all better soldiers.

In a call to other girls to walk out

With an army and the navy, her 
Dates included; a Hussar, a baby
Boy scout, a Scottie, a rifleman in
Green and a captain of the crew. 

Not to forget time with a bosun

A day later a Sub and Marine -

Finally with a midshipman or two.

She'd offer her services if a man

In front would take king's shilling;

A long war promised many songs.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: The 10 best: first world war music. Online. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/nov/07/the-10-best-first-world-war-music> Accessed 13 May 2016

Source: File: Music Hall. Online. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_hall> Accessed 13 May 2016

Source: File: Mademoiselle from Armentières. Online. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mademoiselle_from_Armenti%C3%A8res> Accessed 13 May 2016

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 13 May 2016). 

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Factory Follies - Tuesday, 17 August 1915

Impression sketch of Pierrot troops - by Jamie. 

In one small town, some safe miles

Behind the lines, a transformation

Had taken place, some time before

To turn a factory into a theatre.

An unnamed division had then begun

A troupe of the follies at this base

They had preformed for more than six

Months entertaining audiences

The artists included two actual girls,

In roles of dancers to wear pink

Costumes, with four men of rank,

In the company of one officer.

The male troupes uniforms were white-

Being Pierrot costumes with frills

And red bobs, as they acted out on

Stage made from rough planks.

Their audiences was open to every

Man, a gold-capped general may

Sit by a private - a difference being

1f for a man and 2f for officers.

By use of facial expression and faces

Chalked the troupes of humourists

Could raise the laughter louder - with

Various most popular songs sung.

The dancing girls had most popularity

Said to have artistic merit – this

Mixed troupe had begun back in winter 

Months to raise the army's morale.

Mid winter demoralisation had to be

Countered - with trenches deep

In mud and water, Military authorities

Knew importance of raising spirits.

Such escape offered brief relief from

These physical and metal strains

Of fighting in such conditions, so follies

Fame spread through army.

Such was popularity of these follies

Another division had devised

Their own group of artists to be

Named as the fancies.

The performers performance improved

With rehearsals and practice with

Making adaptations of their materials,

And introduced a variety of songs.

The one criticism centred on fact how

Their songs were not particularly

Current - so appeals was made for new

Songs to have appealing chorus.

 by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915 Cheering the Soldier - The Army 'Follies'. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 17 August. P.10. Col.3. Available at:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11796898/Daily-Telegraph-August-17-1915.html [Accessed: 17 August 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 17 August 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11796898/Daily-Telegraph-August-17-1915.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ A Panto for the Boys - Saturday, 26 December 1914

An unusual audience gathered,

For an annual event, made unique.

In a London Christmas tradition,

At the Drury Lane Pantomime -

Rehearsal has normally been

Boys and girls gathering to see,

The preview of this stage spectacle.

This event though, was for those,

Seen as more important than the

Usual boys and girls – for these

Are the men ‘broken’ by war.

A 1000 wounded accompanied

By their nurses - openly described

As guardian angels of the soldiers -

Slowly gathered on Thursday

Afternoon as Arthur Collins' guests.

With the injured Tommy ready

Making up the audiences majority,

Soldiers of the French nation,

And other men from Belgium,

Joined them to swell their ranks.

The organised British Red Cross

In preparation took manoeuvres

In forming an army of convoys,

Lined up outside London Hospitals.

Pressing themselves into all types

Of transport, of carriages, cars,

And Motor ambulances as they

Once had in heading for the front -

Now they were conveyed across,

To the comforts of Drury Lane.

Arriving in droves, they alighted

Onto the theatres steps, to make

A sight for passer-bys at once,

Cheery and tragic. In recuperation,

The young men took heavy steps,

Their faces betraying ordeals.

Those who could move unassisted,

Did so, as others with stiffened

Joints, bandaged foots, on crutches

Or with lost limbs -felt the support 

Of able nurses to alight the steps.

A thousand wounded soon filled

The auditorium and settled down

Into seats  - then a change came

Over them - previously composed,

Became young men - almost devoid

Of pain and injuries - then cheered.

Seated in a happier place of escape,

They laughed and shouted to sing.

It was thought, no doubt some

Twinges might have been felt from

Shrapnel wounds and stitches under

Such bandages on arms and legs.

Whilst other men may have groaned,

Smiles belied these boys’ winces,

With that same spirit that had seen

A retreat from Mons and in the odds

Of battle for that fight for Ypres -

The soldiers took their moments,

Joined with the greatest of cheers.

Before any sign of a curtain raise,

The entertainment had truly began

Breaking into their own tunes -

That began higher up in the tiers

Spreading down to boys in the pit.

So that the house began to sing,

Well within the third repetition

‘It’s a long way to Tipperary.’

As the singers made a finale,

There stepped to the platform

The conductor ‘Jimmy’ Glover.

Then the orchestra commenced,

With a medley of popular tunes.

Familiar songs that were then,

Not so old, took the audiences

Participation, to lead the music.

With patriotic fervour they sang

Through music hall ballads -

‘Whose your Lady friend?’

'The girl he left behind him,'

Till a tap of the baton of a bar

Of the 'Marsellaise' caused

Those that could, jump up

To stand as the anthem moved

Into 'La Barbanconne.'

'God Bless the Prince of Wales'

Weaved into reprise of 'Tipperary' -

With horn cornet, to accompany

The singers who had taken the tune

Down the Marne and roads of France.

Then if to prove any flagging loyalty,

Came 'God Save the King.'

Such energy was just in prelude

For the opening of the pantomime

As they appreciated and were treated

To 'The Sleeping Beauty Beautified.'

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Wounded Soldiers at the Pantomime  - Drury Lane Scenes. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 26 Dec. p.7. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11310971/Daily-Telegraph-December-26-1914.html [Accessed: 26 December 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 26 December 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11310971/Daily-Telegraph-December-26-1914.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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