TTKAS: Soldiers’ Alphabets – is this the earliest example?

Soldiers' alphabets are synonymous with Trench Journals, and there is no shortage of examples, such as the one from the Sprig below. They have been used in support of the argument that trench culture was an export, or continuation, of civilian culture. Whether I agree with that statement is a topic for another day, except to say that in support of this view there are many examples of comic alphabets out there, covering a wide range of subjects — sport seemed to be a particular target.¹

However, many soldiers' examples can be found before the First World War, suggesting this was already a part of military culture, including the following example reprinted in the Regiment in 1901, and initially published in the regimental journal, the Highland Light Infantry Chronicle.

More recently, I came across the following example, which appeared way back in 1804, published in the Britannic Magazine.

Transcript as follows:

A for attention, the first word he knows,
And B stands for bullet, to tickle his foes.
C stands for a charge which the Frenchmen all dread
And D stands for discharge, which soon lays them dead
Next E begins ease, at which sometimes he stands;
And F bids to fight when our enemy lands.
G stands for general, grapeshot, and gun,
Which together combin'd must make Bonaparte run.
Then H begins honour, to soldiers full dear;
And J stands for justice, which next they revere.
But K bids then kill, die for their Country and king,
For whose health each true Briton doth joyfully sing:
L is love which the soldier will oftentimes see;
And M bids him mercy, when conqu'ror, to deal.
N stands for a nation of Englishmen free;
And O for an outpost — but ours is the sea.
Then P stands for picket and pioneer;
And Q shews our enemies quaking with fear.
Next R, stands for regiment, and roll of the drums;
And S for salute when the General comes.
So T both for touch-hole and trigger may stand;
And V for the brave volunteers of this land.
Then W whispers that war will soon cease;
And X, Y, and Z, will rejoice at the peace.

I should mention that I came across this version in an anthology of Soldiers' songs called The Rambling Soldier, edited by Roy Palmer, which I think is not only a good book, but also a good template on how to write such collections.² It was nevertheless missing the author of the song; digging deeper, this alphabet was syndicated in newspapers at the time. A copy that appeared in the Lancaster Gazette, on April 1804, gives the author as 'J.M.L.'³ Further digging suggests this was James Murray Lacey (1782-1841), a prolific poet and writer who contributed to several publications, including the Lady's Monthly magazine.⁴ From an examination of some of the poems attributed to Lacey in said publication, I am pretty sure this is by his pen.

Returning to the entry in Palmer's book, he notes that it was set to the traditional tune of Derry Down. While I couldn't find the source he mentioned, I did find it printed in the Universal Songster Collection of Ancient and Modern Songs, which gives a date for the poem being set to music as early as 1828. The song version breaks down the poem into verses of four lines, followed by the refrain of 'Derry Down, Hey Derry Down' after each verse.⁵ This means the tune would have sounded something like this:

To date I haven't found any evidence of an earlier Soldier's Alphabet, making this the first — though I am happy to be proved wrong.