God Save the Queen

'God Save the Queen' is a patriotic song whose author is unknown. It is traditionally used as the national anthem of the United Kingdom, one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and the royal anthem of Canada and the other Commonwealth realms, as well as the royal anthem of the British Royal Family. When the British monarch is male it becomes 'God Save the King', as it was originally sung.

It should be noted that there is no authorised version. Indeed the anthem has never been officially adopted by Royal Proclamation nor Act of Parliament. In general only one, or rarely two, verses are ever sung. There has been some debate about replacing 'God Save the Queen' with 'Jerusalem', another popular patriotic song, in England.

History

The phrase 'God Save the King', is believed to have originated from the King James version of the Bible, published in 1611:

'And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God Save the King.' 1 Samuel 10:24.

Opinions differ on authorship of words and melody of the song. It has been attributed to Dr John Bull, chamber musician to James I; his ode, dating from shortly after the Gunpowder Plot, beginning 'God save great James our King.' It's now generally thought that the melody was composed in its present form by Dr Henry Carey, although many of the musical phrases were present in various earlier melodies, leading to some confusion. The first public performance of the work is now believed to be when Carey sang it during a dinner in 1740 in honour of Admiral Edward Vernon who had captured the Spanish harbour of Porto Bello (then in Colombia, now Panama during the War of Jenkins' Ear.)

Traditionally, the first performance was thought to have been in 1745, when it was sung in support of George II after a defeat by the Jacobite claimant to the British throne, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', who had widespread Scottish support. This support caused the later attachment of a verse, which has an anti-Scottish sentiment, and is no longer sung nowadays.

Usage

Frequently, when an anthem is needed for one of the component countries of the UK - at an international sporting event, for instance - an alternate song is used:

• Wales has its own recognised anthem in 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau';
• Scotland uses either 'Flower of Scotland' or 'Scotland the Brave';
• England often uses 'Jerusalem' or 'Land of Hope and Glory'.

In international football matches England uses 'God Save the Queen' while Scotland uses 'Flower of Scotland' and Wales uses 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau'. The anthem was traditionally played at closedown on BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. BBC2 and ITV dropped this practice in the early 1990s, but it continued on BBC1 until December 1997.

It was formerly used as a national anthem by most of the Commonwealth Realms, including Australia, and Canada. It has since been replaced by 'Advance Australia Fair', and 'O Canada', respectively, though it remains those countries' royal anthem. It continues to be recognised as the national anthem of New Zealand, together with 'God Defend New Zealand'. It is also the former national anthem of Ireland, replaced in the 1920s by 'Amhrán na bhFiann' (in English, 'The Soldier's Song').

'God Save the Queen' was the very first song to be used as a national anthem, and its tune was either used as or officially adopted as the national anthem for several other countries, including those of Denmark, Germany (unofficial), Russia (until 1833), Sweden and Switzerland. The tune is still used as the national anthem of Liechtenstein. This was a source of embarrassment to Winter Olympic officials in 1980 when Hanni Wenzell won this country's first gold medal ever, and they had no record of her country's national anthem. It is also the melody to the popular United States song 'My Country, Tis of Thee'.

Lyrics

Since "God Save the Queen" is the Royal Anthem of Canada, the first verse has been translated into French for use in that country, as shown below. As sung in English in Canada, "God Save the Queen" has an additional English verse, sung after the first or second verse, which is also given below.

1

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen,

God save the Queen:

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us:

God save the Queen.

2

O Lord, our God, arise,

Scatter thine enemies,

And make them fall.

Confound their politics,

Frustrate their knavish tricks,

On thee our hopes we fix:

God save us all.

3

Thy choicest gifts in store,

On her be pleased to pour;

Long may she reign:

May she defend our laws,

And ever give us cause

To sing with heart and voice

God save the Queen ¹.

Although in the original lyrics, verses 4-6 are now ommitted entirely- partly to reduce the length of the anthem and partly due to the 'rebellious Scots to crush' line in verse six (which was added at the time of the 1740s Jacobite rebellion)

4

Not in this land alone,

But be God's mercies known,

From shore to shore!

Lord make the nations see,

That men should brothers be,

And form one family,

The wide world over.

5

From every latent foe,

From the assassins blow,

God save the Queen!

O'er her thine arm extend,

For Britain's sake defend,

Our mother, prince, and friend,

God save the Queen!

6

Lord grant that Marshal Wade

May by thy mighty aid

Victory bring.

May he sedition hush,

And like a torrent rush,

Rebellious Scots to crush.

God save the Queen!

First verse in French, as sung in Canada

Dieu protège la reine

De sa main souveraine!

Vive la reine!

Qu'un règne glorieux,

Long et victorieux

Rende son peuple heureux.

Vive la reine!

Additional verse sung in Canada

Our loved Dominion bless

With peace and happiness

From shore to shore;

And let our Empire be

Loyal, united, free

True to herself and Thee

God save the Queen³.

Footnote

1. When the monarch of the time is male, the last two lines of Verse 3 become

'with heart and voice to sing, God Save the King'

United States variant

Since the music was well known, an alternate set of lyrics makes it a common patriotic song in the United States:

1

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the Pilgrims' pride,

from every mountainside let freedom ring!

2

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free, thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills, like that above.

3

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;

Let mortal tongues awake;

Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.

4

Our fathers' God, to thee,

Author of liberty, to thee we sing;

Long may our land be bright

With freedom's holy light;

Protect us by thy might, great God, our King.