[Sheet music] The Veteran's Song: Long Live the King

Sheet music for the song titled 'The veteran's song', with lyrics written by Frederic Edward Weatherly and music composed by Stephen Adams. This copy of the music is the 1911 edition of the music which was published by Boosey & Co and incorporated into an anthology of sheet music titled 'Australian YMCA Songs: Volume 1'. Inside the front cover is a full set of the typed lyrics. The back page shows a list of 'new and standard songs and ballads' published by Boosey & Co. The front cover features the autograph of Stephen Adams and there is also a stamp on the last page of the music stating that the sheet music was supplied by F Pitman Hart & Co, London. The lyrics of this song have been written from the perspective of a veteran who is in a wheelchair but wants to watch from the window as people are greeting the King in the street below. The song ends with the narrator repeating the King's words, recognising the veterans.

Frederic Weatherly and Stephen Adams are sometimes described as the Lennon and McCartney duo of their time. In addition to being a proliferate lyricist who is said to have written the lyrics for 3000 songs, Weatherly was also an author and a lawyer. Some of his most famous songs include 'The Holy City', 'Danny Boy' and 'Roses of Picardy'. Stephen Adams was the pseudonym used by Michael Maybrick, who composed many songs with Weatherly. Michael Maybrick was a music hall performer where he used his true name, and adopted the name of Stephen Adams for published musical works. As a child, his musical talents led to the role of a choirboy and he travelled to Leipzig and the Milan Conservatory when he became older. Adams possessed a baritone voice and started his career performing light opera before switching to ballads.