The 1st Battalion Band, approx 1871

The first reference to any melodic instruments in the 19th Regiment of Foot comes with an inspection report of 1758, which refers to 'Drums and Fifes'. The Regiment itself boasts that in 1747 it became the first British regiment to reintroduce the fife. By 1775 the number of musicians had increased to a 'good band of 11'.

The Band of the 1st Battalion the Green Howards, 1936

In 1742 the Colonel of the Regiment, Sir Charles Howard, was sent by the British government to Vienna on a diplomatic mission to Maria Theresa, whose succession to the Hapsburg lands had provoked the War of the Austrian Succession. In recognition of his service, it is said, she presented him with three marches, which were subsequently adopted by the Regiment. Of these, the slow march, known as Maria Theresa [click to listen] and The Green Howards' Funeral March have survived and are still used.

The 1st Battalion Band and Drums, Berlin 1978.

The quick march, however, was lost sometime in the early 19th century. It is believed that I'm 95 was used for a while until a permanent replacement was finally chosen in 1871, shortly before the 1st Battalion left India. First played in public on arrival in Gosport that year, Bonnie English Rose [click to listen] was a song published in 1858 as 'Rose of England', with music by Charles Jeffreys and words by Sidney Nelson; it officially became the regimental quick march in 1881.

The fact that the badge of The Green Howards, at that time, had the white rose of York provides a probable association with the piece, though it is also said that the then adjutant, Lieutenant Moir, was particularly keen on the song and that the Band played it on his urging.