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Sussex By The Sea
Information supplied by Wikapedia
The song became popular during the First World War, having already been adopted by the Royal Sussex Regiment as an unofficial "nick" march. William Ward-Higgs, a native of Lancashire, lived at Hollywood House in South Bersted[2] for only five or six years.[1] One version of the tune's origins is that Ward-Higgs grew to love his adopted county so much he produced a marching song in its praise.[2] In another version Ward-Higgs composed the song specifically for the wedding of his sister-in-law Gladys when she became engaged to Captain Roland Waithman of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment.[1][2] It may well have come from a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1902 entitled Sussex, the final stanza of which is:
"God gives all men all earth to love,
But since man's heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot shall prove
Beloved over all.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
The lot has fallen to me
In a fair ground – in a fair ground –
Yea, Sussex by the Sea!"
The song became popular during the First World War, having already been adopted by the Royal Sussex Regiment as an unofficial "nick" march. William Ward-Higgs, a native of Lancashire, lived at Hollywood House in South Bersted[2] for only five or six years.[1] One version of the tune's origins is that Ward-Higgs grew to love his adopted county so much he produced a marching song in its praise.[2] In another version Ward-Higgs composed the song specifically for the wedding of his sister-in-law Gladys when she became engaged to Captain Roland Waithman of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment.[1][2] It may well have come from a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1902 entitled Sussex, the final stanza of which is:
"God gives all men all earth to love,
But since man's heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot shall prove
Beloved over all.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
The lot has fallen to me
In a fair ground – in a fair ground –
Yea, Sussex by the Sea!"
