Songs and Music of the Redcoats - Book

Published 1970 by Leo Cooper Ltd of London.

From the flyleaf

"On the march, in the camp, even on the battlefield, soldiers have always armed themselves against the horrors of war by singing or making music. But although much has been written about the songs of more recent conflicts this is the first book to deal with the music of earlier times between 1642 and 1902 - namely the era of the Redcoat.

Lewis Winstock in this pioneer work investigates the real music of war. His book contains a long narrative, a superb collection of soldiers' songs - ribald, rousing, sentimental, satirical, over fifty of which are arranged for the piano.

The use of instrumental music in war is also covered. Did the bands really play in battle to drown the screams of the wounded? What really happened when the British army surrendered to the Americans at Yorktown to the sound of the fife and drum?

There are some bizarre stories here: mutinous Sepoys playing 'Do You Remember Sweet Alice?', Zulus roused to a frenzy by the National Anthem, but delighted by 'St Patrick's Day', Wolfe's staid grenadiers, disciplined by tradition, and fear of the lash, running amok when they heard their favourite march.

Old favourites are also re-appraised. Was 'Lilliburlero' really as popular as tradition would have us believe, and what was the relationship between 'The Grenadier's March' and 'The British Grenadiers'?

To find material for his book, the author has combed the memoirs of the soldiers of Cromwell, Wolfe, Marlborough, Wellington, Roberts and Buller, to name but a few. The result is a book of value to the historian and musician, and one which should delight the general reader."