Gilbert and Sullivan should have written this patter song, but it was actually the product of the prolific British composer Thomas Case Sterndale Bennett (wrote over 300 popular songs, including "Leanin'" and "Come to Brighton With Me") with words by G. Eden
(who also wrote "Belgravia" with Bennett). It was recorded for Edison Labs in August of 1913, and given a spirited rendition by Stanley Kirkby who had also appeared in the first
full-length recorded version of "The Mikado" in 1906. His performance of this upper-class self-aggrandizing British Military stereotype is as perfect as one could wish for, and bears up well under repeated listening. The cylinder from which this was sampled
had been played a number of times, but on good equipment so the wear was not as bad as it could have been. A light touch with noise reduction, mostly to remove rumble, was all it needed.
