The Lincolnshire Poacher

"The Lincolnshire Poacher" is a traditional English folk song associated with the county of Lincolnshire, and deals with the joys of poaching. It is considered to be the unofficial county anthem of Lincolnshire. It is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 299.

The earliest printed version appeared in York about 1776. In 1857 it was written; "This very old ditty has been transformed into the dialects of Somersetshire, Northumberland and Leicestershire, but it properly belongs to Lincolnshire." The song is said to have been a favourite of King George IV.

"The Lincolnshire Poacher" was the regimental quick march of the 10th Regiment of Foot and its successors the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment and the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, who are known as "the Poachers". Also, it was the regimental march of the 2nd battalion The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire). Prior to 1881 this Battalion had been the 81st Regiment of Foot The Loyal Lincolnshire Volunteers. It is also the authorised march of The Lincoln and Welland Regiment of the Canadian Forces. Sir John Graves Simcoe, in the 1790s, named many of the original settlements and rivers in the Niagara district of then Upper Canada after towns and rivers in Lincolnshire, England..

The Lincolnshire Poacher was also the marching song for the 20th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, during the First World War.

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