BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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It was a strange incongruity of fate that prompted them
to sing these songs in a Socialist Society's hall, but
the little ones seemed so happy we could not disturb
them.60
In addition to the stories and verses provided for the benefit
of children, England and The Primrose League Gazette periodically
sponsored prize competitions for verses and songs endorsing a
Conservative vision.
The lyrics published in England on Primrose Day,
1885 were in many respects typical. In "The Song of the Dynamitard," a
demolitions expert is characterized as pursuing violence for the cause
of an independent Ireland by means of Liberal
support and American
money.
One of the stanzas reads,
Bastard both in name and nation,
Extract pure of blatant funk,
I have made a reputation
As [a] base white-Liberal skunk.
I'm not an honest traitor,
For my courage is too weak,
But a crawling agitator.
And a mercenary sneak.6i
Another contribution featured Gladstone, "The Great
Disintegrator," chopping away at the great tree of Britain.62 A
third was composed to the tune of the "Red, White, and Blue."63
It decried the weak and vacillating policies of Gladstone's
administration, particularly his government's policy in the Sudan
and the reformist measures "propelled by a Birmingham screw."64
60
61
62
63
The Clarion, 10 March 1900, p. 75.
England, 10 January 1885, p. 5.
Ibid., p. 9.
Ibid., 4 April 1885, p. 7.
64 A reference to Joseph Chamberlain, whose fortune was
derived from profits received from the sale of the family's holdings in