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Description: | Popularly known as 'The Great MacDermott' or even 'The Statesman of the Halls', GH MacDermott was one of the leading music hall stars of the late 1800s. Well known for his patriotism, he was perhaps most famous for his 1878 song 'We Don't Want to Fight'. The chorus ran: "We don't want to fight/ Yet by Jingo! if we do/We've got the ships/ We've got the men/ And got the money too."
The song was introduced into MacDermott's repertoire around the time Lord Beaconsfield sent a British fleet into Turkish waters as a buffer against Russian advances. Its lyrics were used in the press both in support of Beaconsfield and against him. In particular, it popularised the modern sense of the word "jingoism", meaning an aggressive attitude towards foreign powers. While the song was a huge coup for MacDermott, in the long term it probably harmed his career: many music hall managers were reluctant to employ him because of his inflammatory effect on audiences and public opinion. | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Subjects: | Politics And Power Leisure And The Arts Theatre Performers Trade And Economics | Source: | Collect Britain | Creator: | Unknown | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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