Let's All Go Down the Strand

"Let's All Go Down the Strand" is a popular British music hall song of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, written by Harry Castling and C. W. Murphy.

It was inspired by the Strand, a street in Westminster, Central London, that in the late 19th century became a centre for theatres, hotels and music halls.

The first verse is about a group of tourists planning a trip to Germany, the second about prisoners in jail and the third about sailors returning with Ernest Shackleton from a polar expedition.

During the late 19th century the Strand was transformed from a refuge for beggars, gamblers and fraudsters to a respectable leisure venue with theatres, hotels and music halls.

"[4] The lyrics of the 1909 version describe a group of six tourists meeting in Trafalgar Square for a planned trip to continental Europe.

[3][5] The Lord Mayor proposes that he throws a banquet at Mansion House but one of Shackleton's sailors asks the explorer if they can instead "go down the Strand".

[3] "Let's All Go Down the Strand" was popular with British soldiers in the First World War, alongside other music hall favourites such as "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" and Charles Whittle's "We All Go The Same Way Home".