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 "MacDermott's War Song" also known as the "Jingo Song".

Biography

He was born in Finsbury, London, and taught himself to play piano and

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

as a child. He spent some time in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

before returning to England, where at one time he was the manager of the

Canterbury Music Hall The Canterbury Music Hall was established in 1852 by Charles Morton on the site of a former skittle alley adjacent to the Canterbury Tavern at 143 Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth. It was one of the first purpose-built music halls in London, and ...

Westminster Bridge Road Westminster Bridge Road is a road in London, England. It runs on an east–west axis and passes through the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. Between 1740 and 1746, the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge bought land from the Archbishop of C ...

. He started to write songs for music hall performers, and was one of the first to write both words and music - previously words had usually been written to fit existing tunes. His first success came with "The Organ Grinder", sung by

George Leybourne George Leybourne (17 March 1842 – 15 September 1884) was a '' Lion comique'' of the British Victorian music hall who, for much of his career, was known by the title of one of his songs, " Champagne Charlie". Another of his songs, and one tha ...

and by

Arthur Lloyd Arthur Lloyd may refer to: * Arthur Lloyd (rugby league), rugby league footballer of the 1930s for Wales, and York * Arthur Lloyd (musician) (1839–1904), Scottish singer, songwriter, comedian and stage producer * Arthur Lloyd (bishop) (1844–19 ...

; and was soon followed by "Poor Old Uncle Sam", a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

song successfully performed by Scottish singer Tom MacLagan, and "The German Band", sung by Lloyd. He developed a partnership with ''

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, resplen ...

'' George Leybourne, with Hunt regularly visiting Leybourne's house and playing tunes on the harmonium until Leybourne, lying in bed upstairs, shouted out that he liked one of the tunes. "Jingo", ''The Musical Herald'', 1 April 1904, p.101
/ref> Hunt wrote over 50 songs performed by Leybourne, including "Awfully Clever", "Up in a Balloon", and "Don't Make a Noise Or Else You'll Wake the Baby". He also wrote songs for many of the other popular performers of the period, including Alfred Vance,

Herbert Campbell Herbert Campbell (22 December 1844 – 19 July 1904), born Herbert Edward Story, was an English comedian and actor who appeared in music hall, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies during the Victorian era. He was famous for starring, for ...

, Jenny Hill,

Annie Adams Asaneth Ann Adams Kiskadden (November 9, 1848 – March 17, 1916), credited as Annie Adams, was an American actress. Early and personal life Adams was the daughter of Julia Ann ( Banker) and Barnabas Lothrop Adams. In 1869, she married James ...

, and Fred French. In all, it was estimated that he wrote some 7,000 songs, and it was later said of him that "his faculty for rhyming was as strong as his gift of melody.. for long he had no rival" as a songwriter. His fellow songwriter

Felix McGlennon Felix McGlennon (30 January 1856 – 1 December 1943) was a British songwriter and publisher, whose seriocomic songs were popular in the music halls of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Biography McGlennon was born in Glasg ...

described Hunt as "the originator of the modern comic song for, breaking away from the worn-out methods, he composed new tunes to all the songs he wrote, his melodies being so catchy that many of them have achieved a world-wide popularity." Hunt's most successful and lasting song,

G. H. MacDermott Gilbert Hastings MacDermott (born John Farrell, 27 February 1845 – 8 May 1901) was an English lion comique, who was one of the biggest stars of the Victorian English music hall. He performed under the name of The Great MacDermott, and was wel ...

's "War Song", best known for its chorus of "We don't want to fight, But by Jingo if we do...", was written in 1877 at the time of the Great Eastern Crisis and the threat of all-out war between

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

.Dave Russell, ''Popular Music in England, 1840-1914'', Manchester University Press, 1997, , p.147 After initially rejecting the song, MacDermott changed his mind and bought the song from Hunt for five pounds.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.22-26 Some years later, Hunt said:

My breakfast was half an hour late that morning, so I sat down and wrote the whole chorus. After breakfast I wrote the verses and the melody. The whole thing was the work of barely four hours. I sent the song to MacDermott because he seemed to me to have just the voice and style to make It go. Ten days later he sang it from the stage of the old
Pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
in Piccadilly Circus. From that moment he was a made man. I didn't do so badly out of the song, either. Altogether, with fees, royalties, and other charges, I netted some £750. Not bad for just on four hours' work... "By Jingo, If We Do: Story of a Famous Song", ''The Horsham Times, Victoria'', 28 March 1902, p.3
/ref>

The popularity of the song had an immediate and direct effect on national policy, catching the national mood of the moment; its words were quoted in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, and the word " jingoism" entered the vocabulary. Hunt also wrote "Charlie Dilke Upset the Milk", sung in 1885 by Fred Gilbert and satirising Sir Charles Dilke, a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician involved in a scandalous divorce case. Hunt wrote music for

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s and the theatre, including the 1886 burlesque play ''

Monte Cristo Jr. ''Monte Cristo Jr.'' was a Victorian burlesque with a libretto written by Richard Henry, a pseudonym for the writers Richard Butler and Henry Chance Newton. The score was composed by Meyer Lutz, Ivan Caryll, Hamilton Clarke, Tito Mattei, G. ...

''. He was also one of the organisers of the Music Hall Sick Fund Provident Society, to support performers. He argued against

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

theft, becoming involved in several court actions and claiming that his songs "have been republished in the United States for the last 12 years under anybody’s name but mine." G.W. Hunt, ''Folk Song and Music Hall''
Retrieved 20 September 2020 He was also a successful painter. In later years he reportedly "fell on evil times","Talking about war..", ''Sydney Evening News'', 16 April 1904, p.9
/ref> and a testimonial was held on his behalf in 1901, supported by such leading figures as Herbert Campbell, Arthur Collins, and

Dan Leno George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall a ...

. He died in 1904 after a short stay in the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

County Asylum in Brentwood. "G.H. MacDermott", ''Dictionary of National Biography'', Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/532
/ref> He was buried at Abney Park Cemetery. His gravestone was restored in 2012."G.W.Hunt Memorial Restored"
, The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, Accessed 28 August 2012

References

External links

*

''Grainger.de'' * Burials at Abney Park Cemetery {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, G.W. 1837 births 1904 deaths English lyricists English songwriters