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Band of the Royal Yeomanry (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry)
History
Following the major reorganisation of the TA resulting from the Defence White Paper of 1967, in that year four historical Yeomanry regiments were reformed into the newly created Royal Yeomanry Regiment. Three of these became armoured corps sabre squadrons, and the fourth, the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry, provided the regimental band, as it does to this day. The happy compromise remains that the Band (one of only two Army Reserve Bands in London with 'State Band' status) is effectively "shared" between the RY and the IC&CY, though its clear line of command is to the RY, and history to the IC&CY.
It enjoys a very full programme of military and civilian engagements, and regularly receives excellent reviews from its Corps of Army Music Technical Inspection, and elsewhere.
Facebook page, and more at our official website - https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/royal-armoured-corps/royal-yeomanry/royal-yeomanry-band/
Marches
The Inns of Court & City Yeomanry Quick March is entitled ‘Nancy Dawson', named after a popular stage dancer in Georgian times.
The regimental Quick March of the ICCY is Nancy Dawson.
History
Following the major reorganisation of the TA resulting from the Defence White Paper of 1967, in that year four historical Yeomanry regiments were reformed into the newly created Royal Yeomanry Regiment. Three of these became armoured corps sabre squadrons, and the fourth, the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry, provided the regimental band, as it does to this day. The happy compromise remains that the Band (one of only two Army Reserve Bands in London with 'State Band' status) is effectively "shared" between the RY and the IC&CY, though its clear line of command is to the RY, and history to the IC&CY.
It enjoys a very full programme of military and civilian engagements, and regularly receives excellent reviews from its Corps of Army Music Technical Inspection, and elsewhere.
Facebook page, and more at our official website - https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/royal-armoured-corps/royal-yeomanry/royal-yeomanry-band/
Marches
The Inns of Court & City Yeomanry Quick March is entitled ‘Nancy Dawson', named after a popular stage dancer in Georgian times.
The regimental Quick March of the ICCY is Nancy Dawson.
The regimental slow march of the ICCY is ‘Scipio' in common with the Grenadier Guards, from Handel's 1725 opera The Mercy of Scipio.
The regimental quick march of The Royal Yeomanry is Farmer's Boy.
The regimental quick march of The Rough Riders' is Early one morning.
The above recordings were performed by The Inns of Court and City Yeomanry Band during their annual deployment 2017.
Nancy Dawson (1730-1767) first appeared at Sadler's Wells Theatre as a columbine and subsequently moved to Covent Garden, where in 1759 she danced the hornpipe in 'The Beggar's Opera' to the tune of which the words of the ballad are set. The air, the authorship of which has been attributed to George Alexander Stevens, was for a long time the popular tune of the day. It was set, with variations, for the harpsichord as 'Miss Dawson's Hornpipe', was introduced into Carey and Bickerstaff's 'Love in a Village', and is mentioned in the epilogue to 'She Stoops to Conquer'. A variant of the opening bars is still sung by children in the game 'Here we go round the Mulberry Bush'.
'Nancy Dawson' was adopted by the Law Association at the time of the Volunteer Movement in 1803, and was revived by their successors, the Inns of Court Rifle Volunteer Corps, on the re-establishment of the Corps in 1859. It has been the Regimental March since then, the current version having been arranged by a former Band member Doug Shewan, and the original air and words are to be found in the British Museum.
THE BALLAD OF NANCY DAWSON
Of all the girls in our town -
The black, the fair, the red, the brown -
That prance and dance it up and down,
There's none like Nancy Dawson;
Her easy mien, her shape so neat,
She foots, she trips, she looks so sweet,
Her very motions are complete -
I'd die for Nancy Dawson.