He wears a pair of red-topped boots
and sails the black-ball line

(Version of New York Girls I do, learned from a Scandinavian group called the 'Paddy McGintys'. The mind boggles...)

Before anyone else gets bogged down in the Bonny Bunch of Roses / Napoleon discussion may I point to my first post on the subject.

Well, the bonny bunch of roses was the term used by Napoleon himself when refering to the British Isles. Marines or 'Johnnie' would have, I think, worn blue and not red. But I am still of the firm belief that I am making it all up. Or did I hear it somewhere... :-)

I thought the penultimate statement may have been a dead giveaway but apparently not.

Sigh.

D.