G. W. Hunt
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George William Hunt (c.1837 – 1 March 1904), known in later life as 'Jingo' Hunt,Peter Gammond, ''The Oxford Companion to Popular Music'', Oxford University Press, 1991, p.279 was an English writer of
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
songs, best known for "MacDermott's War Song" also known as the "Jingo Song".


Biography

He was born in
Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manorialism, Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man c ...
, London, and taught himself to play piano and
harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...
as a child. He spent some time in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
before returning to England, where at one time he was the manager of the
Canterbury Music Hall The Canterbury Music Hall was established in 1852 by Charles Morton on the site of a former skittle alley adjacent to the Canterbury Tavern at 143 Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth. It was one of the first purpose-built music halls in London, a ...
on
Westminster Bridge Road Westminster Bridge Road is a road in London, England. It is on an east–west axis, and passes through the northern extremities of the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. Between 1740 and 1746, the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge bought lan ...
. He started to write songs for music hall performers, and was one of the first to write both words and music - previously words had usually been written to fit existing tunes. His first success came with "The Organ Grinder", sung by
George Leybourne George Leybourne (17 March 1842 – 15 September 1884) was a singer and '' Lion comique'' style entertainer in British music halls during the 19th century who, for much of his career, was known by the title of one of his songs, " Champagne Char ...
and by Arthur Lloyd; and was soon followed by "Poor Old Uncle Sam", a
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
song successfully performed by Scottish singer Tom MacLagan, and "The German Band", sung by Lloyd. He developed a partnership with ''
lion comique The ''lion comique'' was a type of popular entertainer in the Victorian music halls, a parody of upper-class toffs or "swells" made popular by Alfred Vance and G. H. MacDermott, among others. They were artistes whose stage appearance, resplende ...
'' George Leybourne, with Hunt regularly visiting Leybourne's house and playing tunes on the harmonium until Leybourne, lying in bed upstairs, shouted out that he liked one of the tunes. "Jingo", ''The Musical Herald'', 1 April 1904, p.101
/ref> Hunt wrote over 50 songs performed by Leybourne, including "Awfully Clever", "Up in a Balloon", and "Don't Make a Noise Or Else You'll Wake the Baby". He also wrote songs for many of the other popular performers of the period, including
Alfred Vance Alfred Glanville Vance (born Alfred Peck Stevens; 1839 – 26 December 1888), often known as The Great Vance, was an English music hall singer, regarded as "one of the most important of the early music-hall performers". Biography Vance was born ...
,
Herbert Campbell Herbert Campbell (22 December 1844 – 19 July 1904), born Herbert Edward Story, was an English comedian and actor who appeared in music hall, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies during the Victorian era. He was famous for starring, for ...
, Jenny Hill,
Annie Adams Asaneth Ann Adams Kiskadden (November 9, 1848 – March 17, 1916), credited as Annie Adams, was an American actress who performed in Salt Lake City and later on Broadway. Early and personal life Adams was born near Salt Lake City, the daught ...
, and
Fred French Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...
. In all, it was estimated that he wrote some 7,000 songs, and it was later said of him that "his faculty for rhyming was as strong as his gift of melody.. for long he had no rival" as a songwriter. His fellow songwriter Felix McGlennon described Hunt as "the originator of the modern comic song for, breaking away from the worn-out methods, he composed new tunes to all the songs he wrote, his melodies being so catchy that many of them have achieved a world-wide popularity." Hunt's most successful and lasting song,
G. H. MacDermott Gilbert Hastings MacDermott (born John Farrell; 27 February 1845 – 8 May 1901) was an English comic singer or lion comique, who was one of the biggest stars of the Victorian English music hall. He performed under the name of The Great MacDerm ...
's "War Song", best known for its chorus of "We don't want to fight, But
by Jingo The expression ''by Jingo'' is a minced oath that appeared rarely in print, but which may be traced as far back as to at least the 17th century in a transparent euphemism for "by Jesus". The OED attests the first appearance in 1694, in an English ...
if we do...", was written in 1877 at the time of the
Great Eastern Crisis The Great Eastern Crisis of 1875–1878 began in the Ottoman Empire's Rumelia, administrative territories in the Balkan Peninsula in 1875, with the outbreak of several uprisings and wars that resulted in the intervention of international powers, ...
and the threat of all-out war between
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.Dave Russell, ''Popular Music in England, 1840-1914'', Manchester University Press, 1997, , p.147 After initially rejecting the song, MacDermott changed his mind and bought the song from Hunt for five pounds.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.22-26 Some years later, Hunt said:
My breakfast was half an hour late that morning, so I sat down and wrote the whole chorus. After breakfast I wrote the verses and the melody. The whole thing was the work of barely four hours. I sent the song to MacDermott because he seemed to me to have just the voice and style to make It go. Ten days later he sang it from the stage of the old
Pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
in
Piccadilly Circus Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End of London, West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a ''List of road junctions in the Unite ...
. From that moment he was a made man. I didn't do so badly out of the song, either. Altogether, with fees, royalties, and other charges, I netted some £750. Not bad for just on four hours' work... "By Jingo, If We Do: Story of a Famous Song", ''The Horsham Times, Victoria'', 28 March 1902, p.3
/ref>
The popularity of the song had an immediate and direct effect on national policy, catching the national mood of the moment; its words were quoted in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
, and the word "
jingoism Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inte ...
" entered the vocabulary. Hunt also wrote "Charlie Dilke Upset the Milk", sung in 1885 by Fred Gilbert and satirising
Sir Charles Dilke Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet (4 September 1843 – 26 January 1911) was an English Liberal and Radical politician. A republican in the early 1870s, he later became a leader in the radical challenge to Whig control of the Libera ...
, a
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...
politician involved in a scandalous divorce case. Hunt wrote music for
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
s and the theatre, including the musical
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
'' Monte Cristo Jr.'' (1886). He was also one of the organisers of the Music Hall Sick Fund Provident Society, to support performers. He argued against
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
theft, becoming involved in several court actions and claiming that his songs "have been republished in the United States for the last 12 years under anybody’s name but mine." G.W. Hunt, ''Folk Song and Music Hall''
Retrieved 20 September 2020
He was also a successful painter. In later years he reportedly "fell on evil times","Talking about war..", ''Sydney Evening News'', 16 April 1904, p.9
/ref> and a testimonial was held on his behalf in 1901, supported by such leading figures as Herbert Campbell, Arthur Collins, and
Dan Leno George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall a ...
. He died in 1904 after a short stay in the
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
County Asylum in Brentwood. He was buried at
Abney Park Cemetery Abney Park cemetery is one of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries in London, England. Abney Park in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney, D ...
. His gravestone was restored in 2012."G.W.Hunt Memorial Restored"
, The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, Accessed 28 August 2012


References


External links

*

''Grainger.de'' * Burials at Abney Park Cemetery {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, G.W. 1830s births 1904 deaths English lyricists English male songwriters Burials at Abney Park Cemetery