9.30

Tipperary

The perennially popular song 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary' is inseparably associated with the First World War. The music is credited to Jack Judge, of Oldbury, Birmingham, and the words to Harry Williams of Temple Balsall, Solihull. Judge subsequently claimed that he wrote both words and music, the credit to Williams being made in repayment for a loan. The song was actually composed one day early in 1912 at the New Market Inn in Stalybridge, Manchester, and sung by Judge at the Grand Theatre that evening. It was popularized in the music hall by Florrie Forde in a pantomime of 1914 and tells of an Irishman on a visit to London who longs to return to his homeland and his girl despite the lure of the legendary streets paved with gold.

It's a long way to Tipperary,
It's a long way to go;
It's a long way to Tipperary,
To the sweetest girl I know!
Goodbye, Piccadilly,
Farewell, Leicester Square;
It's a long, long way to Tipperary,
But my heart's right there!

Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable (2002)