THE MOST FAMOUS SONGS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 7569, 23 May 1914, Page 6

THE MOST FAMOUS SONGS.

There cannot be the least doubt what, ever that the most famous song in the nondj judged by its being known an tJa© most lands and by the most varied nations, and by its being one of the oldest and most widely sung ditties ever known, is that which, has for its first hue, “-UaJbrough s’en va-t-en guerre;” winch, if we were to give the English version of it, instead of the older French "ords, would be, “Marlborough goes away to the wai.

But you say, that the most famous son a ,m the world ? Why, we must be areamuigl We never even hoard of it! Wliac about our grand old “ Homo, Sweet Home ?” What about “ God Save the Ivingr” What about “Auld Lang SyneK’’ And what about tho “MarsoilJ ,use • Why, we’ve known and sung these all our Jives, so to speak, and they are heard in every country; whereas that song you’ve just mentioned—bless us, we don't even know the first line of itl

Yes, it does sound funny, doesn’t itp 1 ' till you’ve read this; then il sec what say! There can be no doubt that if you took any hundred people in England, and asked them w hat was the most famous and best-known song in the world, they would all select one of the four you yourself spoke of pist now. The Scotsman would swear by ‘Auld Lang Syne,” and would ha-ye some good reason on his side; the Englishman would probably go solid for ‘‘Home, Sweet Home,” finding the Scotsman willing ,to put that second; the frenchman would plump for the ‘‘Marseillaise;” whilst both the English and the Scot would acknowledge that the great French song might well claim high place. But nobody, not a single man out oh all the hundred, unless he were a specially knowing person, would ever venture to suggest that “Marlbrough ’ was the most famous, the most widely known, the most often sung, and had by far the most glorious traditions amongst all the songs of the world’s many and varied countries. Yet it unquestionably is so; and that you’ve acknowledged yourself many a time, though you’ve not known it! Yes, you have! For, I repeat again, there has never been such a popular song as “ Malbrook,” and you yourself have agreed to this often and often when you have sung so enthusiastically and heartily the song's splendid refrain :—‘ For he’s a jolly good fellow, For he’s a jolly good fellow, For he’s a Jolly good fellow, And so say all of us—From “What is the World's Mow Famous Song?” in Chambers’s Journal.