BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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Wish they were dead.57
A companion book by the same author entitled, "Pictures for
Little Englanders," anticipated the thesis of Robinson and Gallagher. 58
In building railways Johnny Bull
Is anything but a tyro;
He now is seeking to connect
The Cape of Good Hope to Cairo.59
A common feature at the end of the nineteenth century was the
prevalence of nationalist songs for children.
The Radical counterpart
to the Primrose League, begun in the 1890's, was the Clarion Society.
Like the League, it sponsored a special program for children entitled
the "Cinderella Club."
In large measure it resembled the Juvenile
branches, although exhibiting a decidedly socialist flavor.
The Cinderella Club was conceived as a means of providing poor
children with both a good meal (tea) and entertainment. Nevertheless,
on the first occasion of the event at the local
Swansea association,
the youths, after devouring their meals, spontaneously began singing
the latest imperial
songs, "Bravo! Dublin Fusiliers" and "Soldiers of
the Queen," much to the misgivings of their hosts.
57 Mrs. Ernest Ames, ABC for Baby Patriots, advertised in The
Primrose League Gazette, 1 November 1900, p. 20.
58 Namely, that throughout much of the nineteenth century
British foreign policy was based on acquiring and maintaining influence
in African and Egyptian territories as a means of ensuring a safe route
to India. Robin Robinson, John Gallagher, and Alice Denny, Africa and
the Victorians (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1961), pp. 9-10, 13, 15,
17-18.
59 Mrs. Ernest Ames, Pictures for Little Englanders,
advertised in The Primrose League Gazette, 1 November 1900, p. 20.