Roses of Picardy

The lyricist Fred Weatherly had become impressed with beauty of the voice of the soprano Elsie Griffin, who later became a leading artiste with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

[4] Picardy was a pre-Revolutionary province in the north of France near the Channel, the site of battles during the Hundred Years’ War and mentioned in Shakepeare’s history plays.

[5][Note 2] "Roses of Picardy" was published in December and quickly became popular throughout Britain,[6][7] with British soldiers singing it when they were dispatched to the Front in France and Flanders.

[8][9][10] During the First World War, the song sold at a rate of 50,000 copies of the sheet music per month, earning Haydn Wood approximately £10,000 in total (£615,312 in 2025 adjusted for inflation).

[18] After the Second World War, the American jazz artist Sidney Bechet, a long-time resident in France, popularised a Swing version, and it was also recorded by the French popular singer Yves Montand.