Dance The British Grenadiers 819

Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules,
Of Conon and Lysander, and some Mithiades;
But of all the world’s brave heroes, there’s none that can compare,
With a tow, row, row, row, to the British Grenadiers.
But of all the world’s great heroes, there’s none that can compare,
With a tow, row, row, row, to the British Grenadiers.

None of those ancient heroes e’er saw a cannon ball,
Or knew the force of powder to slay their foes withal;
But our brave boys do know it, and banish all their fears,
With a tow, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
But our brave boys do know it, and banish all their fears,
With a tow, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.

Whene’er we are commanded to storm the Palisades,
Our leaders march with fuses, and we with hand grenades,
We throw them from the glacis about our enemies’ ears,
With a tow, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
We throw them from the glacis about our enemies’ ears,
With a tow, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.

The god of war was pleased, and great Bellona smiles,
To see these noble heroes of our British Isles;
And all the gods celestial, descended from their spheres,
Behold with admiration the British Grenadiers.
And all the gods celestial, descended from their spheres,
Behold with admiration the British Grenadiers.

Then let us crown a bumper, and drink a health to those
Who carry caps and pouches that wear the looped clothes.
May they and their commanders live happy all their years,
With a tow, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
May they and their commanders live happy all their years,
With a tow, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
– Circa 1690

Every army in every war has its soldier heroes who are the idols of small boys and the pride of the nation. The Grenadiers were for a very long time the elite corps of men of the British Army.

In 1677 a Royal Warrant of Charles II decreed that two soldiers of each company then serving at the Tower of London should be trained as grenadiers. In 1678 another warrant was issued by which a grenadier company was added to the eight oldest regiments of foot. In time, every British regiment had a company of grenadiers.

When the hand grenade was introduced as a new weapon in 1677, a very special type of soldier had to be trained. A year later John Evelyn wrote of the grenadier in his diary as the “new sort of soldiers who with a pouch of hand grenades were skillful at throwing them at the enemy”.

Those were the picked men, tall and strong of necessity, and in recognition of their availability theirs was the place of honour on the right of the line. It was the duty of these 17th and 18th century commandos to soften up the enemy position by lighting the fuses of the grenades from a slow-burning match which was wound around their left wrists and hurling the flaming grenades in volleys into the enemy’s fortifications or lines. When they had wreaked sufficient havoc with their grenades, they attacked with musket and bayonet. If their objective was a fortification or palisade, they wielded the hatchets with which they were equipped.

The Grenadiers stood out not only because of their stature. Their uniforms were different from the rest of the infantry soldiers and it does not take a student of military history to spot the Grenadiers in contemporary prints. Most striking was their headgear. To facilitate the throwing of grenades, the brimmed hat of th etime was dispensed with and in its stead a unique cap was worn. The front was stiff and elaborately embroidered and it stood straight up. The bag of the cap was lifted from the back so that its tuft showed from the front. Eventually this low cap became the very tall mitre-shape associated with the Grenadiers. Their coats, the “looped clothes”, glittered with gold lace and tassels. They carried the “fuzee” in a sling at their backs, their cartridge boxes on their belts and on one hip swung the grenade pouch. They must truly have been an awesome sight.

One of the oldest regiments of the British Army is the Grenadier Guards, the premier regiment of Foot Guards, which dates from 1656. This regiment was originally raised as the King’s Royal Regiment of Guards and it served as a bodyguard for Charles while he was in exile in France after the battle of Worcester in 1651. The regiment returned to England at the Restoration in 1660 as the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards and it was not until 1815, after Waterloo, that it became officially designated the Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards, at the order of the Prince Regent, later George IV. The white hackle on their bearskins represents the smoke of the grenade.