Billy Mayerl was a British pianist-composer-well known as the composer of Marigold. He was particularly active in the field of novelty piano music which followed on from ragtime and brought in the early jazz age. He also wrote many contemplative pieces in the English pastoral tradition. Between the wars he became a familiar figure in the music halls, playing two pianos at once and taking requests; meanwhile he was composing for musical comedies involving some of England's best-known stars. He also started the Billy Mayerl School in 1926 to teach syncopated piano playing and branches opened across England and abroad.