G&S and the Boy Scouts of America Early this spring, member Charlee Hutton sent in some photocopies from The Boy Scout Song Book (Edited and Published for the Boy Scouts of America by C.C. Birchard and Co., Boston, Mass. 1920). She works for the Music Department of Paramount Pictures, and says she found the book "during one of [her] forays into [their] musty, dusty music files." She thought we'd get a kick out of these songs if we haven't seen them already. Well, I hadn't seen them before, and I think they're worth the seeing. The introduction to the book says the songs in the book try to interpret the spirit of America and Boy Scouting in song. If the other songs in the book are as enthusiastic as the ones with tunes taken from Iolanthe and Yeomen, it must be quite a collection, that could appeal to both U.S and British Scouts. After all, like G&S, Boy Scouting is a British institution that was appropriated by the United States. (According to the Encyclopedia, Sir Robert Baden-Powell started Boy Scouting in 1907, and William D. Boyce brought it to the U.S. in 1909, after a British Boy Scout helped him find his way in a London fog.) In any event, it was fun to see this two-way combination of U.S. institutions. The first song, from p. 24-25, is from The Yeomen of the Guard, with new lyrics by Paul Hastings, and entitled (what else?) "I have a Song to Sing" I have a song to sing, oh! Sing us your song, oh! 'Tis a song of a day In the month of May When seeds in the earth are a-sprouting, A day when the dickie birds pipe and trill And something calls from the vale and hill; You must be off, for you can't keep still, Oh, that is the time to be scouting. Heighdy! Heighdy! Tiddyio, Tiddyium! Ho! my lads, for the spring is come, And that is the time to be scouting! I have a song to sing, oh! Sing us your song, oh! 'Tis a song of a day When you tramp away A day for a hike and an outing, A day when your troubles are all forgot, When miles don't count tho' the sun be hot, For you'll get cool in a shady spot, Oh, that is the time to be scouting. Heighdy! Heighdy! Tiddyio, Tiddyium! Ho! my lads, for the summer's come, And that is the time to be scouting! I have a song to sing, oh! Sing us your song, oh! Tis a song of a day When the skies are gray And winds from the north come a-shouting, When bells ring a ting-a-ling down the pike, Then comes the fun that the Scouts all like, Hurrah! we're off for a snowshoe hike, Oh, that is the time to be scouting. Heighdy! Heighdy! Tiddyio, Tiddyium! Ho! my lads, for the winter's is come, And that is the time to be scouting We all know how incongruous the stirring melody of "When Britain Really Ruled the Waves" is to its rather insulting words. This version, (found on p. 94-95) with words by James A. Wilder, isn't nearly as funny as the original, because the text sounds as stirring as the tune. Law and Order For sacred law from east to west, Our banner bright shall wave No base design shall flourish here Against the land we all revere Whose men are strong and brave Hold steady, then, our Flag shall stand For Law and Order on the land, In Freedom's name our Flag shall stand For Law and Order on the land! (repeat for chorus) Our banner at the mizzengaff, Proclaims the ship afar, And where it gleams across the sea, Its ev'ry stripe cries "Liberty," and "Justice" ev'ry star. Stand by, my lads, true Liberty is Law and Order on the sea, Yeo-ho! Heave-ho! Our Flag shall be for Law and Order on the sea! (repeat) Let all the peoples here below Make law their guiding star, and wrong shall perish at its birth Thro'out the nations of the earth, Where Right and Justice are! Let stainless banners be unfurled For Law and Order thro' the world Let stainless banners be unfurled For Law and Order thro' the world (repeat) Come! Scouts by land and Scouts by sea, For Law and Order stand, For God and Country, Brotherhood, As loyal hearts have ever stood In this our glorious land. Stand up! Stand up! Good scouts shall be Crusaders all for Liberty; Stand up! Stand up! Our pledge declare for Law and Order ev'rywhere! (repeat) [This article appeared in Issue 32 (December 1991) of Precious Nonsense, the newsletter of the Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Posted by permission of Sarah Cole, Society Secre- tary/Archivist. For information on Society membership write to: The Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society, c/o Miss Sarah Cole, 613 W. State St., North Aurora, IL 60542-1538.]