Gilbert Hastings MacDermott (born John Farrell, 27 February 1845 – 8 May 1901) was an English

lion comique The ''lion comique'' was a type of popular entertainer in the Victorian music halls, a parody of upper-class toffs or "swells" made popular by Alfred Vance and G. H. MacDermott, among others. They were artistes whose stage appearance, resplenden ...

, who was one of the biggest stars of the Victorian English

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

. He performed under the name of The Great MacDermott, and was well known for his rousing rendition of a war song he was persuaded to buy from

G. W. Hunt George William Hunt (c.1837 – 1 March 1904), known in later life as 'Jingo' Hunt,Peter Gammond, ''The Oxford Companion to Popular Music'', Oxford University Press, 1991, p.279 was an English writer of music hall songs, best known for "MacD ...

for one guinea. The song's chorus of "We don't want to fight but by jingo if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, and got the money too!" introduced the word

jingoism Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inte ...

into the English language. The song became hugely popular in 1878, so much so that the Prince of Wales, the future

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

, had MacDermott sing it for him at a private audience. He was far from a one hit wonder however. In fact he had written and published several plays and acted in many of them. The war song was brought back several times by other artists and was sung in an altered version during the First World War.

Life and career

MacDermott was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

in 1845, and named John Farrell. His parents were Patrick Farrell, an Irish bricklayer, and Mary McDermott, also from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, a laundress. He had left home by 1861 to join the navy and in 1866 married Mary Ann Stradwick, by whom he had a son. From humble beginnings MacDermott became a wealthy man. In 1883 he lived in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

with a young actress Annie Milburn, daughter of actor

James Hartley Milburn James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, and had another four children, all of whom adopted his stage name of MacDermott. He later became a successful theatrical agent and managed several famous music halls. He died in 1901 from cancer at the age of 56. His youngest child, Annie Louise Mary MacDermott, later became a stage star by the name of

Ouida MacDermott Ouida MacDermott (24 May 1889 – 29 October 1980) was a British singer and actress whose career was mainly in music hall and as a principal boy in pantomime during the Edwardian era. She appeared on one of the first television broadcasts i ...

. In an obituary on 9 May 1901, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' called G. H. MacDermott the last ''

'', artists whose stage appearance resplendent in evening dress contrasted with the cloth cap image of most of their music hall contemporaries. The MacDermott family grave is at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

. Ouida is buried in the Roman Catholic Churchyard at Old Hall Green, Hertfordshire.

References

Notes Bibliography * *

External links

A photograph of MacDermott.
Last retrieved 18 March 2012.

Last retrieved 5 January 2012. * ttps://www.flickr.com/photos/92943860@N00/5078015/ Photograph of his daughter Ouida MacDermott.Last retrieved 5 January 2012.
The complete lyrics of the "Jingo War Song" with the tune in midi and mp3.
Last retrieved 5 January 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdermott, G. H. 1845 births 1901 deaths Burials at West Norwood Cemetery 19th-century British male singers Music hall performers 19th-century British dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English male writers English people of Irish descent