Editing It's a Long Way to Tipperary (section)

== Authorship ==
[[Jack Judge]]'s parents were Irish, and his grandparents came from [[County Tipperary|Tipperary]]. Judge met Harry Williams (Henry James Williams, 23 September 1873 &ndash; 21 February 1924) in [[Oldbury, West Midlands|Oldbury, Worcestershire]] at the Malt Shovel [[Pub|public house]], where Williams's brother Ben was the [[licensee]]. Williams was severely [[Disability|disabled]], having fallen down cellar steps as a child and badly broken both legs. He had developed a talent for writing [[Verse (music)|verse]] and songs, and played the piano and [[mandolin]], often in public. Judge and Williams began a long-term writing partnership that resulted in 32 music hall songs published by [[Bert Feldman]]. Many of the songs were composed by Williams and Judge at Williams's home, The Plough Inn (later renamed The Tipperary Inn), in [[Balsall Common]]. Because Judge could not read or write music, Williams taught them to Judge by ear.<ref name=tipperary>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120710082343/http://www.tipperarywarsong.co.uk/gallery.php  "The World's Most Famous Marching Song", ''TipperaryWarSong.co.uk'']. Retrieved 15 July 2020</ref>

Judge was a popular semi-professional performer in music halls. In January 1912, he was performing at the Grand Theatre in [[Stalybridge]], and accepted a 5-[[Shilling (British coin)|shilling]] bet that he could compose and sing a new song by the next night. The following evening, 31 January, Judge performed "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" for the first time, and it immediately became a great success. The song was originally written and performed as a sentimental [[ballad]], to be enjoyed by Irish [[expatriate]]s living in [[London]].<ref name=tipperary/> Judge sold the [[Copyright|rights]] to the song to Bert Feldman in London, who agreed to publish it and other songs written by Judge with Williams.<ref name=oldbury>[http://historyofoldbury.co.uk/articles/article008%20-%20jack%20judge%20part%201.htm  "Jack Judge - His Life and Music", ''History of Oldbury'']. Retrieved 15 July 2020</ref> Feldman published the song as "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" in October 1912, and promoted it as a [[march (music)|march]].<ref name ="bbc 24 02 2014"/>

===Dispute===
Feldman paid royalties to both Judge and Williams, but after Williams' death in 1924, Judge claimed sole credit for writing the song,<ref>{{Cite book | year=2009 | title = Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Best-loved Songs | author1=Max Cryer | publisher=[[Frances Lincoln Publishers]] | isbn=978-0-7112-2911-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/lovemetenderstor0000crye/page/188 188] | url=https://archive.org/details/lovemetenderstor0000crye| url-access=registration }}</ref> saying that he had agreed to Williams being co-credited as recompense for a debt that Judge owed. However, Williams' family showed that the [[Tune (music)|tune]] and most of the [[lyrics]] to the song already existed in the form of a [[manuscript]], "It's A Long Way to Connemara", co-written by Williams and Judge back in 1909, and Judge had used this, just changing some words, including changing "Connemara" to "Tipperary".<ref name ="bbc 24 02 2014">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25238656|title=World War One: Bet on It's a Long Long Way to Tipperary|date=24 February 2014|access-date=8 January 2021|website=BBC}}</ref>

Judge said: "I was the sole composer of 'Tipperary', and all other songs published in our names jointly. They were all 95% my work, as Mr Williams made only slight alterations to the work he wrote down from my singing the compositions. He would write it down on music-lined paper and play it back, then I'd work on the music a little more ... I have sworn affidavits in my possession by Bert Feldman, the late Harry Williams and myself confirming that I am the composer ...". In a 1933 interview, he added: "The words and music of the song were written in the Newmarket Tavern, Corporation Street, Stalybridge on 31st January 1912, during my engagement at the Grand Theatre after a bet had been made that a song could not be written and sung the next evening ... Harry was very good to me and used to assist me financially, and I made a promise to him that if I ever wrote a song and published it, I would put his name on the copies and share the proceeds with him. Not only did I generously fulfil that promise, but I placed his name with mine on many more of my own published contributions. During Mr Williams' lifetime (as far as I know) he never claimed to be the writer of the song ...".<ref>[http://historyofoldbury.co.uk/articles/article008%20-%20jack%20judge%20part%204.htm  "Jack Judge 1872 - 1938: Part 4"]. Retrieved 15 July 2020</ref>

Williams's family campaigned in 2012 to have Harry Williams officially re-credited with the song, and shared their archives with the [[Imperial War Museums]]. The family estate still receives royalties from the song.<ref name="Pybus"/><ref name="Fricker">{{cite news|last1=Fricker|first1=Martin|title=Song that won war: It's a long way to Tipperary and a long time to pay royalties|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/song-won-war-its-long-3160289|access-date=8 September 2018|publisher=Mirror|date=19 February 2014}}</ref>

===Other claims===
In 1917, Alice Smyth Burton Jay [[Lawsuit|sued]] song publishers [[Chappell & Co.]] for $100,000, alleging she wrote the tune in 1908 for a song played at the [[Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition]] promoting the Washington apple industry. The chorus began "I'm on my way to [[Yakima, Washington|Yakima]]".<ref>"'Tipperary'" Tune Stolen, She Says. Boston Daily Globe, 20 September 1917, p. 16</ref> The court appointed [[Victor Herbert]] to act as expert advisor<ref>"Victor Herbert Is 'Tipperary' Expert," The New York Times, 27 September 1917, p. 10</ref> and dismissed the suit in 1920, since the authors of "Tipperary" had never been to [[Seattle]] and Victor Herbert testified the two songs were not similar enough to suggest [[plagiarism]].<ref>"Loses 'Tipperary' Suit." ''[[The New York Times]],'' 24 June 1920, p. 25.</ref>