11 OCTOBER 1913, Page 16

SONGS, NAVAL AND MILITARY.

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR"] BIR,—As the writer of the article on " Songs, Naval and Military," which appeared in your issue of September 20th, I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. McNeilage for pointing out the slip which I made in including " Hearts of Oak" amongst the songs of the Napoleonic era. Its author, David Garrick, died in 1779, when Napoleon was only ten years old. The anecdote about the Duke of Wellington, to which Mr. Newton alludes, is given in a diary kept by the Lady Salisbury of the day. It is quoted in Sir Herbert Maxwell's " Life of Wellington," vol. ii., p. 322. There can, as Mr. Newton says, be no doubt that the Duke entertained a high opinion of Souk's talents.—I am, Sir, &c., C. 86 Winipole Street, W.