WAR SONGS
SIR,—In your issue of April 16th Col. Walter Elliot raises an interesting question for research. Unfortunately, some at least of his evidence seems faulty. For instance, the Russian Imperial National Anthem had a totally different ending (translated literally) front that quoted, viz., " . . May he (the Tsar) reign to our glory! May he reign to the terror of our enemies.. . . God pre- serve the Tsar!" This anthem dates from the first half of the last century. The earlier one—going back to Peter the Great—was one of the finest marching songs of all time, with the refrain "Roll thunders of victory; rejoice brave Russian folk! "
(Incidentally, in one of the last Tattoos before the present war the massed bands of the Brigade of Guards marched into the arena to this tune.) It is, furthermore, interesting to note that the Russian partisan songs of today are the lineal descendants—and in some cases actually the same—as the famous partisan songs of 1812 or even earlier. All this suggests the continuity of national military tradition, and points to the fact that in a nation's history heroic periods tend to recur and are reflected
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