[Sheet music] The Old Brigade

Sheet music for the song titled 'The old brigade', with music composed by Odoardo Barri, pseudonym of Edward Slater, and lyrics written by Frederic Edward Weatherly. The piece was composed for and dedicated to Major General William Howley Goodenough, C.B., R.A., who commanded the Royal Artillery during the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. The underlying piece of music has been composed as a slow march and is written in G Major. The song appears to have been first published between 1880 and 1881.

The lyrics of the song open with the line 'Where are the boys of the old brigade' which is possibly why the song is also sometimes referred to as 'The boys of the old brigade.' This is the same name as an Irish song written by Paddy McGuigan that was published about 1969. The lyrics of this song continue to reflect on the soldiers who fell while fighting for England and now lie somewhere in a foreign land. The chorus of the song appear to suggest that contemporary soldiers should be like those who served in the old brigade, 'Like the boys of the old brigade'.

This copy of the song features the names of all the performers who contributed to the success of the song on stage with a total of 28 names listed at the top of the front cover. It was published by Reynolds & Co, London, who were the sole publishers of the work. The sheet music sold for 2/- and although the word copyright appears on teh cover, there is also a note that the song 'may be sung in public without fee or permission'.

On the back cover of this copy is an advertising preview for the song 'The land across the sea' written by British composer Graham Clifton Bingham in 1902 and the lyrics for another song titled 'Two love lyrics' which was written by H Chilver Wilson and Gertrude Louise Luckie. This piece of music was also published in 1902.

Edward Slater was born in Dublin, Ireland who worked in Italy and Spain before opening a music school in London. He claimed to have been born at Como, Italy and that he had also fought at the battle of Solferino during the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859.

Towards the bottom of this page is a sound recording of this sheet music, or a parody, that was created as part of the Music and the First World War project. More information about this recording, including names of the performers, can be found on the catalogue record for the sound recording. A link to the catalogue record for the sound recording can be found at the bottom of this page, under the heading ‘Related objects’ where it can be identified with the prefix [sound recording].