Edwin Kendall wrote this song in 1905, when the meaning of the word "gay" was very different from today's use of the word. This is the original Edison 2-minute cylinder recording which dates from September of that year. The song, referred
to as a "characteristic march" in the Edison catalog, serves as a vehicle for a medley of jigs (which seemed appropriate, as the word "gossoon" is - according to the dictionary - the Scottish variant of "garçon", or "boy"). Vess Ossman,
one of the undisputed early masters of the banjo, makes this medley sound easy. He would also record this for Victor disc in 1905, which they kept in their catalog up into the 20s, and again for Edison Labs in 1916 when he would re-record it
for Diamond Disc (dubbed to a 4-minute cylinder). This particular 2-minute cylinder was in very good shape, with some minor blasting in the louder parts, and noise reduction was only used sparingly.
