The composer of "MacDermott's War Song." In 1878, twenty-two years after the Crimean War, the Russians intervened once again in the Balkans, to liberate Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. Benjamin Disraeli, the Conservative Prime Minister, had sent the Meditteranean Fleet to intervene on the Turkish side. Feelings in London ran so high that W.G. Gladstone, the leader of the Liberal opposition, had his windows smashed by an angry mob, and Hunt penned a song for G.H. MacDermott with the refrain : "We don't want to fight but, by Jingo, if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too, We've fought the Bear before and while Britons shall be true, The Russians shall not have Constantinople." In the event, the Russians were forced to withdraw under the terms of the Treaty of Berlin, one consequence of which was that Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain, and another was that two phrases entered the English language. One was from Disraeli's speech of the 16th. July in the House of Commons : "Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace - but a peace, I hope, with honour". The other was the word "Jingo", thought originally to have been a minced oath for "Jesus", but used now to indicate an aggressive, war-mongering "patriotism".
The composer of "MacDermott's War Song." In 1878, twenty-two years after the Crimean War, the Russians intervened once again in the Balkans, to liberate Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. Benjamin Disraeli, the Conservative Prime Minister, had sent the Meditteranean Fleet to intervene on the Turkish side. Feelings in London ran so high that W.G. Gladstone, the leader of the Liberal opposition, had his windows smashed by an angry mob, and Hunt penned a song for G.H. MacDermott with the refrain : "We don't want to fight but, by Jingo, if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too, We've fought the Bear before and while Britons shall be true, The Russians shall not have Constantinople." In the event, the Russians were forced to withdraw under the terms of the Treaty of Berlin, one consequence of which was that Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain, and another was that two phrases entered the English language. One was from Disraeli's speech of the 16th. July in the House of Commons : "Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace - but a peace, I hope, with honour". The other was the word "Jingo", thought originally to have been a minced oath for "Jesus", but used now to indicate an aggressive, war-mongering "patriotism".
Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
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