Kirkby made a number of recordings about the topical events of his time, for example in 1910 "Don't Go Down in the Mine, Dad" – a song said to have been written in response to the great 1907 mining disaster at St. Genard in South Wales and in 1913 "Be British!" – a memorial song to raise funds for the families of the victims of the "Titanic" disaster. Also in 1913 he made a famous recording about Scott's Antarctic Expedition "'Tis a Story That Shall Live For Ever". He recorded First World War songs both popular and propaganda, for example "We Didn't Want to Fight but By Jingo Now We Do" and "Your King and Country Want You" for Edison Bell Winner; he also recorded "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" for Zonophone (also released on Regal and Scala). Following the War one of his greatest hits was "The Rose of No Man's Land" which sold a total of 163,000 copies; it had become very popular with men returning home to civilian life from the Front in France.