a popular tune in both Britain and North America throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and remains so. It is most commonly heard today in the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony when the Colour Escort marches into position on Horse Guards Parade. Lyrics The following text may date back to the War of Spanish Succession (1702–1713), since it refers to the grenadiers throwing grenades and the men wearing "caps and pouches" (i.e. the tall grenadier caps, worn by these elite troops, and the heavy satchel in which grenades were carried) and "loupèd clothes"- coats with broad bands of 'lace' across the chest that distinguished early grenadiers. Before the American Revolution, Joseph Warren wrote a parody song called "Free America" and has the same tune. Historical terms There are a number of words in the song not commonly used or whose meaning is obscure; Fusee: shortened muskets carried by Grenadier officers, sometimes called fusils. This is accurately depicted in David Morier's painting of the Highland charge at the Battle of Culloden, the Government troops are grenadiers and their officer wields a fusil. Glacis: a smooth sloping embankment usually in front of the walls of a fort; designed to deflect cannonballs, it also gave defenders a clear field of fire, making it a dangerous place to stand upright and throw grenades; Bumper: any drinking container used in a toast, normally filled with beer or other alcohol; Loupèd: 'looped' pronounced "loup-ed" to scan; it refers to the lace button-holes or 'loops' on grenadier uniforms. Tow, row, row, row: mimics the rhythm and beat of the drums used to keep soldiers in step. In popular culture Like "Rule, Britannia!", the song is frequently used in film and television to introduce a British setting or character, or indicate stereotypical Britishness. Alistair Ramson in the Sherlock Holmes film The Scarlet Claw sings this song when he is disguised as the character Postman Potts, delivering mail to Emile Journet. The character Mr. Bucket in the Dickens novel Bleak House plays this song by fife in Chapter 49. The tune is heard by the protagonist rifleman Dodd of the British Army in C. S. Forester's Death to the French when he rejoins his unit. In the fourth series of Blackadder (Blackadder Goes Forth), theme composer Howard Goodall incorporated the first two bars of the march into the series theme song, with the third and fourth being added into