"Sussex by the Sea" (also known as "A Horse Galloping") is a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

written in 1907 by William Ward-Higgs, often considered to be the unofficial

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

. It became well known throughout Sussex and is regularly sung at celebrations throughout the county. It can be heard during many sporting events in the county, during the Sussex bonfire celebrations and it is played by marching bands and Morris dancers across Sussex. It is the adopted song of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, Sussex Division Royal Naval Reserve (now closed)
Sussex Association of Naval Officers
and

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The ...

History

The song became popular during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, having already been adopted by the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

as an unofficial "nick"

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

. William Ward-Higgs, a native of Lancashire, lived at Hollywood House in

South Bersted South Bersted is a village and parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. It forms part of the built up area of Bognor Regis and lies on the A259 and A29 roads one mile (1.6 km) north of the town centre. The Anglican parish chur ...

for only five or six years. One version of the tune's origins is that Ward-Higgs grew to love his adopted county so much he produced a marching song in its praise. In another version Ward-Higgs composed the song specifically for the wedding of his sister-in-law Gladys when she became engaged to Captain Roland Waithman of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. It may well have come from a poem written by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

in 1902 entitled ''Sussex'', the final

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have ei ...

of which is: :God gives all men all earth to love, :But since man's heart is small, :Ordains for each one spot shall prove :Beloved over all. :Each to his choice, and I rejoice :The lot has fallen to me :In a fair groundThis phrase is taken from

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

16.1 in the

Coverdale Bible The Coverdale Bible, compiled by Myles Coverdale and published in 1535, was the first complete Modern English translation of the Bible (not just the Old Testament or New Testament), and the first complete printed translation into English (cf. ...

- "The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground : yea, I have a goodly heritage

/ref> – in a fair ground – :Yea, Sussex by the Sea! The song was published in 1907, and Captain Waithman performed it in concerts at Ballykinler, Ballykinlar Camp in Ireland where the battalion was then stationed. The song never became the regimental march: this was always "The Royal Sussex". It was, however, the first march used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, as their Officers Training School No. 1 was in a hotel in

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origi ...

. During the re-colonisation/liberation of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1945, the

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

band of the heavy cruiser HMS ''Sussex'' played "Sussex by the Sea" as the ship entered harbour. Enthusiasm for "Sussex by the Sea" goes far beyond Sussex.

King Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

would insist the tune be played whenever he visited the military academy at Sandhurst. The march continues to be played at band concerts all over the world and, despite the Royal Sussex Regiment's amalgamation into the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

and later the

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Q ...

, it is still played on ceremonial occasions. "Sussex By The Sea" is the regimental march of the 25th Battalion,

Royal Queensland Regiment The Royal Queensland Regiment (RQR) is a reserve light infantry regiment of the Australian Army based in Queensland. Part of the Royal Australian Infantry Corps, the regiment was established in 1960 following a reorganisation of Australia's pa ...

, Australia.

Lyrics

''First Verse'' Now is the time for marching, Now let your hearts be gay, Hark to the merry bugles Sounding along our way. So let your voices ring, my boys, And take the time from me, And I’ll sing you a song as we march along, Of Sussex by the Sea! ''Chorus'' For we're the men from Sussex, Sussex by the Sea. We plough and sow and reap and mow, And useful men are we; And when you go to Sussex, whoever you may be, You may tell them all that we stand or fall For Sussex by the Sea! ''Refrain'' Oh Sussex, Sussex by the Sea! Good old Sussex by the Sea! You may tell them all we stand or fall, For Sussex by the Sea. ''Second Verse'' Up in the morning early, Start at the break of day; March till the evening shadows Tell us it's time to stay. We're always moving on, my boys, So take the time from me, And sing this song as we march along, Of Sussex by the Sea. ''Chorus'' and ''Refrain'' ''Third Verse'' Sometimes your feet are weary, Sometimes the way is long, Sometimes the day is dreary, Sometimes the world goes wrong; But if you let your voices ring, Your care will fly away, So we'll sing a song as we march along, Of Sussex by the Sea. ''Chorus'' and ''Refrain'' ''Fourth Verse'' Light is the love of a soldier, That's what the ladies say – Lightly he goes a wooing, Lightly he rides away. In love and war we always are As fair as fair can be, And a soldier boy is the ladies' joy In Sussex by the Sea. ''Chorus'' and ''Refrain'' ''Fifth Verse'' Far o'er the seas we wander, Wide thro’ the world we roam; Far from the kind hearts yonder, Far from our dear old home; But ne'er shall we forget, my boys, And true we'll ever be To the girls so kind that we left behind In Sussex by the Sea. ''Chorus'' and ''Refrain''

Alternative Lyrics

Sussex County Cricket Club

In 1957, Joe Haddon wrote a two verse version dedicated to Sussex

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

. :Now is the time for playing :Now let your hearts be gay :List what your captain is saying :While off the field of play :So put your best leg forward, my lads :And time each ball you see :If you sing the old song :Well you can’t go wrong :Of Sussex By The Sea Chorus: :Good Old Sussex by the Sea, Good Old Sussex By the Sea :You can tell them all that we stand or fall :For Sussex by the Sea. :Good Old Sussex By the Sea :Their cricket is a pleasure to see :They will give you a show :For they don’t play slow :And useful men are they :So when you go to Sussex :Six Martlets men to see :They will delight you all :With the bat and the ball :In the County Ground by the Sea.

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. & Sussex County Cricket Club

In more recent years, the song has been taken up by both Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. and

. It is the clubs' official song, but sometimes with a changed

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

(often sung on its own, without any verses) - or, more recently, just humming the verses. The song was often simplified to: :Good old Sussex by the sea, :Good old Sussex by the sea :Oh we're going up :To win the cup :For Sussex by the sea. Since 2011 when the football club moved to Falmer Stadium, a loud, rousing version by the Grenadier Guards has been used as the teams enter the field of play, with the original lyrics of the first verse and refrain appearing on the big screen. Prior to a league match against

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

in December 2014 (during a particularly poor season for the team) a technical fault resulted in the music cutting out for the chorus, but this had the positive effect of the home crowd picking up the song at this point and singing it with far more gusto than previously. As a result, the music has been intentionally cut ever since for the last three lines, which are sung by the crowd alone followed by applause: ... Good Old Sussex By the Sea You can tell them all that we stand or fall For Sussex by the Sea.

Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

uses the tune as its school march.

1939 Sussex People's March of History

Marching through

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

in the 'Sussex People's March of History' of 1939 with banners that included

Jack Cade Jack Cade's Rebellion was a popular revolt in 1450 against the government of England, which took place in the south-east of the country between the months of April and July. It stemmed from local grievances regarding the corruption, maladmi ...

's rebellion in 1450, the Swing Riots of 1830 and the

Battle of Lewes Road The Battle of Lewes Road was a confrontation which took place in Brighton during the 1926 United Kingdom general strike. Background The tensions which led to the general strike were exacerbated locally by the policies of the Brighton Corporati ...

, which was a significant incident in Brighton in the General Strike of 1926, 400 protesters led by Ernie Trory of the Sussex

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

movement sang the following words to ''Sussex by the Sea''. :Now is the time for marching :Under our banners red :Rank upon rank advancing :Surely we forge ahead :So let your voices ring comrades, :All you who would be free :And we'll sing a song :As we march along :Of peace and liberty

Notes

External links

See the full words for Sussex by the SeaScore of the tune
{{Sussex History of Sussex British military marches British anthems Regional songs Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Football songs and chants