ABSTRACT
In nineteenth-century Britain, 'national' song usually meant patriotic song, and in the later century usually included an endorsement of imperialism. This chapter argues that songs dating from before what is commonly known as the 'new imperialism' lend support for the Gallagher and Robinson thesis that there was informal empire building before this, as part of what they termed an 'imperialism of free trade'. New songs were also being written to supplement the old favourites; two late nineteenth-century examples are 'Soldiers of the Queen' and 'Sons of the Sea', both composed for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. MacDermott's song reveals a fear of Russia taking Constantinople and threatening Britain's route east to India. A cartoon from Punch that appeared at the time of growing Fenian activity in Ireland, which became open rebellion in March 1867, shows that Britain had no difficulty making connections between trouble in one colony and trouble in another.
