Letter: The Balkans crisis in historical perspective

Sir: I was intrigued by Lord Blake's article 'Steer clear of the Balkans' (24 August), in which he referred to Disraeli's threat to go to war with Russia if the latter attacked Turkey. Some 50 years ago my grandfather used to recite to me the following verse:

We don't want to fight, but, by jingo if we do,

We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too.

We've fought the Bear before, and while Britons shall be true,

The Russians shall not have Constantinople.

In 1878, when the song was written, my grandfather was aged 10 and would readily memorise what was in fact a popular music hall song. These were Disraeli's sentiments and clearly found an echo among the silent majority who recognised Britain's interest when they saw it.

Yours faithfully,

ALEC ELLIS

Liverpool

24 August