Vic

One part of the book that caught my attention was towards the end of the section called Just Before and after the Battle, Mother.

This is because one of my grandfathers was a military bandsman, and it would appear from the insignia he is wearing in the sole photo I have of him that he was a band leader. I know he played clarinet and other woodwind. He was in the Boer War and also WWI, as was a son who was killed at Ypres. The family was musical generally, with some playing in dance bands as well as public concerts of military band music.

This was by no means a middle-class family: it seems that the army provided musical training to suitable candidates and that this sometimes served people well after they left the service.

I should make it clear that Roud is not, of course, claiming that military band music was 'folk', but drawing on contemporary sources to give some account of what was sung in those contexts at the time.

Also, I will say that I by no means wish to justify the activities of the British in Africa! But my ancestor was there, and it interested me to read about what his musical experiences there were like.