We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men

We don’t want to fight but by jingo if we do...

We’ve got the ships,

we’ve got the men,

and got the money too!

Jingoism means extreme nationalism characterized by shows of excessive patriotism, usually associated with going to war. This word came about when England was considering involvement in the Russo-TurkishWar, because of the music hall song above.

The word jingo came from the Basque word Jainko, meaning God, so the expression "by Jingo!" is the same as "by God!" Brewer's states that this term started to be used when Basque soldiers were imported by Edward I (1239-1307) to fight in Wales.

The song was taken up by what we would now call the hawks of the London public. It immediately became a hit, especially the first four lines.