One last (?) word about the song "Auprès de ma blonde".

The song goes back to the early 18thcentury. It seems to have been known since 1704 as "Le prisonnier de Hollande". "Auprès de ma blonde" was the French foot soldiers' marching song at the battle of Denain (July 1712), during the war of the Spanish Succession.

(Being French, I apologize for my poor English).