Lyr Add: They Marched Through the Town

Subject: Lyr Add: THEY MARCHED THROUGH THE TOWN
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 04:00 PM

"The Captain with His Whiskers" was a popular song of the Civil War era and was mentioned in "The Song of All Songs" (Stephen Foster or Tony Pastor) of 1863. It originated in the song "(O!) They Marched Through the Town," which lacks mention of the whiskers. This song is not in the DT, and seemingly is not in the Forum. The Traditional Ballad Index cufresno says the song was composed by Thomas Haynes Bayly (Bayley?), words, and Sidney Nelson, music. It does not seem to be in either the American Memory or Levy sites, but a song sheet published by Catnach, London, between 1813-1838, is in the Bodleian collection.

Lyr. Add: THEY MARCHED THROUGH THE TOWN

O! They march'd thro' the town with their banners so gay,
To the casement I ran, just to hear the band play,
And I peep'd thro' the blind very cautiously then,
Lest the neighbours should say that I looked at them.

Oh! I heard not the tune tho' the music was sweet,
For my eyes at the time had a much greater treat,
For the troop was the finest that e'er I did see,
And the Captain, by chance, caught a sly glimpse of me.

When we met at the ball, I of course thought it right,
To pretend that we never had met till that night,
But he knew me at once I perceiv'd by his glance,
And I looked down and blush'd when he ask'd me to dance.

Oh! I sat by his side at the close of the set,
And the sweet words he breath'd I can never forget,
My heart was enlisted & could not get free,
For the Captain, by chance, caught a sly glimpse of me.

Ballads Catalogue, Harding B 16(286d), Bodleian Library, between 1813-1838. The Ballad Index says the song was known in the US and Ireland, but its publication in London suggests that it was known throughout the UK as well as North America.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: They Marched Through the Town
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 16 Jun 03 - 03:41 PM

The Captain and His Whiskers (Roud 2735) is known in English and Scottish tradition; certainly not American and Irish only. They Marched Through the Town is an English song in origin; Nathaniel Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839) also wrote the words to The Mistletoe Bough (and O! No, We Never Mention Her, among many more), and the equally prolific Sidney (American songsheets sometimes call him Samuel) Nelson composed the music for The Rose of Allandale.

The British Library catalogue lists the following:

[1] They marched through the Town. Listen dear Fanny. Away to the Mountain's brow. Marriage of the Rose. [Songs.]
TOWN
[London, 1845?] s. sh. 4o.
[2] As they marched through the town. The Captain and his Whiskers. A comic song, etc
1869
[3] As they marched through the town, marche militaire ... pour le Piano
Mattini. F
1868
[4] O they marched through the town. The Captain's Sly Glance. [Song.] Poetry by W. J. Wetmore and T. H. Bayly
1864
[5] The Captain, or Oh! they marched through the town. [Song.] (Arranged by W. A. Owen. Written by T. H. Bayly.)
Owen. W. Alonzo
1861

This would suggest that the "Whiskers" development was quite new at the time of the Civil War, and the original song not much more than thirty or forty years older.