CHURCHILL, Winston S. (1874-1965). Autograph quotation signed ("Winston S. Churchill") as Prime Minister, inscribed to Gen. John Ponsonby, Whitehall, 8 December 1942.

One page, 240 x 191mm, on 10 Downing Street letterhead, (light foxing and dustsoiling).

Winston Churchill invokes the inspirational lyrics of Scottish music hall star Harry Lauder: "'Keep right on to the end of the road.'" —a quote written at the height of the Second World War—evoking Churchill's famous "bulldog" spirit. Lauder, who was close to Churchill, composed the song in 1924, in honor of the loss of his son John in December 1916 on the Western front. When he debuted the song at the Victoria Palace Theatre in April 1924, the crowd's enthusiasm compelled Lauder to sing it a second time, and his 1925 recording of the song was so successful, it became a routine closer for his set. Churchill was such a fan of Lauder, that when he was awarded the freedom fo the City of Edinburgh in October 1942, he remarked that Lauder's songs had brought "comfort and renewed strength to many a burdened heart." Shortly before Lauder's death in 1950, Churchill wrote him a letter of comfort, urging the "grand old minstrel, keep right on to the end of the road."

John Ponsonby was a career officer in the British Army, serving in the Second Boer War and First World War, and was the son of Sir Henry Ponsonby, Queen Victoria's private secretary.

[With:] GASCOYNE-CECIL, Rogert Arthur James, Viscount Cranbone (1893-1972). Typed letter signed ("Bobbety") as Lord Privy Seal to Gen. John Ponsonby, Whitehall, 9 December 1942. One page, 240 x 190mm. A polite and chatty letter enclosing the aforementioned Churchill quotation, "for your collection of letters from Prime Ministers."