"The Gallant Forty Twa" is a traditional Scottish song associated with the 42nd Foot regiment known as the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

. It is generally dated to the mid-19th century, although it may have been based on an older tune from

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. It was reportedly sung by soldiers from the regiment during the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

.Charles Messenger. ''A History of British Infantry: For Love of Regiment, Volume 2, 1915-1994''. Pen and Sword, 1994. p.58 The song was revived by the Irish folk group

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popu ...

in the 1960s. It has also been recorded by

Ryan's Fancy Ryan’s Fancy was an Music of Ireland, Irish folk music group active from 1971–1983. The band consisted of multi-instrumentalists Denis Ryan (singer), Denis Ryan, Fergus O'Byrne, and Dermot O'Reilly, all of whom were Ireland, Irish immigra ...

and Andy Stewart.

References

Scottish songs Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown

External links

Clancy Brothers versionGulf Oil TV commercial using the melody
{{song-stub