"The British Grenadiers" refers to grenadiers in general, not the Grenadier Guards Regiment, and all Fusilier units were entitled to use it. It allegedly commemorates an assault in August 1695 by 700 British grenadiers on the French-held fortress of Namur during the Nine Years War. The first printed version of 'The Granadeer's March' appeared in 1706, the first with lyrics sometime between 1735–1750. It was a popular tune in both Britain and North America throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and remains so.