Author: Tye, J.
Biography:
TYE, J. (fl 1799)
The author of The Loyal Songster identifies himself on the title-page as a member of the First Company in the Birmingham Loyal Association Corps of Infantry—a militia group of volunteers formed to protect the homeland during the Napoleonic Wars. He dedicates the work, conventionally said to have been published at the urging of friends, to the Corps at large. And he explains that he composed these songs to promote “unanimity and good order” in the ranks. He may have been familiar with an earlier anthology of patriotic songs, The Loyal Songster’s Magazine (c. 1794), which included “Love and Unanimity” and adopted many of the same traditional tunes; and, closer to home, with the collections of John Freeth, q.v. The songs are not sophisticated. They tend to celebrate military triumphs, as in “The Overthrow of the Dutch Fleet, November, 1797” to the tune of “Queen Bess.” No first name is given and although the author must have been local he was not necessarily a native of Birmingham. He does not appear to have published anything else. He might have been James Tye, son of Elizabeth and Thomas Tye, who was baptised at the church of St. Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, on 1 Jan. 1759, but confirmation is lacking. (ancestry.com 12 Sept. 2024; findmypast.com 12 Sept. 2024)