Memories of a Gentle Man
Music: If You're Irish, Come Into the Parlour
Artist: 1st Battalion Irish Guards
Shared by: Chloe for her Dad
Dad chose this upbeat, stirring piece of music to be played as the exit music for his funeral. He had meticulously chosen every piece for this last goodbye before he died and each bit of music was special and meaningful to us all, but this piece of military music resonates and brings back the most joyous, happy memories of him and my childhood and his passion for military music.
Growing up, Dad would always take us to the big processions and Royal ceremonies in London. Trooping The Colour, Changing the Guards, The Lord Mayor’s Show and Jubilee celebrations were all big days out and regular excursions for us. He would also love to go to the rehearsals which were a bit quieter and less busy with onlookers, and pre-internet days he knew exactly when and where to go.
“Sometimes he would take his tape recorder to the rehearsals and we would run alongside the bands as they played and marched up The Mall, sounds crazy but it was great fun and quite a lot of enthusiast did it!”
We would get up early and drive into town from our home in north London, he knew all the best places to park and the shortcuts to The Mall and Horse Guards Parade Ground from the side streets in Mayfair.
Sometimes he would take his tape recorder to the rehearsals and we would run alongside the bands as they played and marched up The Mall, sounds crazy but it was great fun and quite a lot of enthusiast did it!
Dad was the gentlest of men and a pacifist on every level, on his headstone we chose the wording, ‘a gentle-man’ under his name and dates, because he was always so gentle. This makes it’s a bit of a mystery as to why he loved military marching bands so much, but he loved the uniforms, the numbers of buttons, the sound of the marching boots, the horses, the ceremony and the occasion.
When I listen to this music now I’m reminded of happy times, the sound of the sergeant shouting at the beginning and the cymbals crashing take me back to The Mall in London. The sun is shining, there’s dust from the sand on the roads, there’s the beat of the marching feet, the rhythm of the horses hooves and the jangling of the saddles and reins.
I remember how proud he was of his Irish heritage and his Irish mother, I remember his sense of humour and fun and it brings the lightness we all needed at the end.