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Lilliburlero - A Brief History

The tune used as the World Service in English signature for the news since 21st November 1955 is most commonly known as Lilliburlero. It started life as a jig with Irish roots, whose first appearance seems to be in a collection published in London in 1661 entitled 'An Antidote Against Melancholy', where it is set to the words "There was an old man of Waltham Cross". It was arranged for polite society by the English composer Henry Purcell in 1689, and has been published in his keyboard work 'Musick's Handmaid'.

In 1687, however, the tune was set to different words, at a time when the Roman Catholic King James II was becoming increasingly unpopular. These were satirical verses with the Irish Gaelic-based word "Lilliburlero" as a refrain, referring to the appointment to the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland of General Talbot, just created Earl of Tyrconnel. In this guise, the song was subsequently adopted by William of Orange as a marching tune for his Protestant troops.

Lilliburlero's military association was rekindled in the Second World War, when it was played on the BBC Home Service programme 'Into Battle' in 1943, and as a result was chosen as the regimental march for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME).

At the same time it was chosen as the theme tune for our Chinese Service (by the poet and critic William Empson), before being poached by the English network, (then called the General Overseas Service). The version of Lilliburlero now heard replaces the version by BBC music producer David Cox which was in use for 30 years.

Lilliburlero has always been a controversial tune for the BBC to employ as an anthem. In 1972, the poet Robert Graves wrote a letter to 'The Times' newspaper complaining about the use of the tune in light of its anti-Catholic connotations. It survives, however, and remains one of the world's most distinctive tunes.