Annotation:Coldstream March (1)
COLDSTREAM MARCH [1], THE. English, March (whole time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). A thirteen-bar strain British army march of the Revolutionary War period. It first appears in three fife tutors dating to 1760-1770, Charles and Samuel Thompson's Compleat Tutor for the Fife, Longman's Compleat Instructions for the Fife, and Thirty Favourite Marches Book 2 (a collection of marches from Handel, Arne and other composers). It was subsequently printed in many of the major tutors for woodwind instruments (primarily fife and oboe) through the rest of the century.
The Coldstream Guards are the oldest existing regiment in the British army. The sole surviving regiment of Cromwell's army, they are heir to a three hundred year military history. Today detachments of the regiment dress in Victorian costumes and guard the Queen of England. However, no direct connection has been made between the Guards and the 'Coldstream' melodies, nor with the village of Coldstream in the Borders region.
