We'll Never Let the Old Flag Fall

'We'll Never Let the Old Flag Fall'

'We'll Never Let the Old Flag Fall'. World War I marching song about the Union Jack. It was written by M. (probably Michael) F. Kelly (music) and Albert Erroll MacNutt (words) and published in 1914, though copyrighted only in 1915, by Anglo-Canadian Music. In the years following, MacNutt often was identified as the sole author. Originally for voice and piano, the song was arranged also for orchestra, band, and choir. It was performed each evening at the 1915 CNE (Toronto) by a male quartet with band, as part of a military demonstration, and at the 1916 CNE by massed bands. An advertisement in the Canadian Music Trades Journal (May 1916) reported sales of 100,000 throughout the British Empire. Several recordings and piano rolls, including those by the baritones Herbert Stuart of Ontario and Frederick Wheeler, are listed in Roll Back the Years. Kelly (b Saint John, NB, ca 1882, d there 1916) and MacNutt (b Truro, NS, 1891, d 1952) also collaborated on 'By Order of the King' (Anglo-Canadian 1915).