[1] Merrie England opened at the Savoy Theatre on 2nd April 1902 where it ran for 120 performances until 30th July. Merrie England is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood. The patriotic story concerns love and rivalries at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, when a love letter sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to one of Queen Elizabeth’s Ladies in Waiting, Bessie Throckmorton, ends up in the hands of the Queen. Well-known songs from the opera include “O Peaceful England”, “The Yeomen of England” and “Dan Cupid hath a Garden”.
The Diaries of my Great-Great-Aunt Kate 