I remember singing this song with my parents and another family at the end of the 1940s, sitting on the beach in Suffolk at night with a blazing fire to keep us warm and dampers to toast for the hungry. I remember most of the tunes but for the life of me I can't name the originals apart from Annie Laurie. The Old Brigade was definitely a marching song. Instead of the birth certificate, in our version it was the calling up papers which had been delayed - much better news if you didn't fancy the trenches.