Rule Britannia

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“Rule Britannia” is a patriotic British national song, originating from the poem "Rule Britannia" by James Thomson, and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740. The song was included in Alfred, a masque about Alfred the Great co-written by Thomson and David Mallet and first performed at Cliveden, country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, to celebrate the accession of King George I and the birthday of the Princess Augusta.

1 History
2 Lyrics
3 See also
4 Other uses
5 External links

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History

This most popular of all British national airs was first heard in London in 1745 and achieved instant popularity. So well known was it that the composer Handel even quoted it in his Occasional Oratorio in the following year when it was sung with the words "War shall cease, welcome peace!" Predictably "Rule, Britannia!" was seized upon by the Jacobites and James Thomson's words were altered to be anti-jacobite.

As reflected in the song, the British at the time took pride in being more free than other nations. By 1745 Britain, though far from being a democracy, and quite oppressive by modern standards, was well on the way to developing a constitutional monarchy, with the royal prerogative decively curbed since 1689. This was in marked contrast to the Royal Absolutism still prevalent in Europe - most especially in France, at the time the arch-enemy, with which Britain went to war again and again throughout the century. The French Bourbons were undoubtedly the prime example of "haughty tyrants", whose "slaves" Britions would never be. (Somewhat comparable to the Cold War opposition of the American "Land of the Free" with the Soviet "Evil Empire".)

A second related meaning, obvious to the audience at the time, was of naval power as also a protection against home-grown tyrants. An island nation with a strong navy to defend it could afford to dispense with a standing army - and since the time of Cromwell, a standing army was conceived in the British public consciousness as a threat and the source of tyranny.

It is important to note that at the time it appeared, the song - recalling the era when, under Alfred the Great, the British ships outdid the Danish - was not a celebration of an existing state of naval affairs, but a hope and aspiration for the future. Though the Netherlands, which in the 17th century presented a major challenge to British sea power, was obviously past its peak by 1745, Britain did not yet "rule the waves". The time was still to come when the Royal Navy would be an unchallenged dominant force on the oceans, protecting Britain and her burgeoning Empire from "haughty tyrants" and "foreign strokes". The jesting lyrics of the mid 1700s would assume a material and patriotic significance by the end of the 19th century.

The melody was the theme for a set of variations for piano by Ludwig van Beethoven (WoO 79) and he also used it in "Wellington's Victory", Op. 91.

The part of the tune's refrain that defiantly repeats "never, never, never", may have provided the theme on which Elgar's Enigma Variations are based.

Arthur Sullivan, Britain's leading composer during the reign of Queen Victoria, quoted from "Rule Britannia" on at least three occasions in music for his operettas written with W. S. Gilbert and Bolton Rowe. In Utopia, Limited Sullivan used airs from "Rule Britannia" to highlight references to Great Britain. In "The Zoo" (written with Rowe) Sullivan supplied the tune of "Rule Britannia" to an instance in which Rowe's libretto quotes directly from the patriotic march. Finally, to celebrate the jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, Sullivan added a chorus of "Rule Britannia" to the finale of HMS Pinafore, which was playing in revival at the Savoy Theatre.

"Rule Britannia" is traditionally performed at the BBC's Last Night of the Proms, normally with a guest soloist (past performers have included Bryn Terfel, Thomas Hampson and Felicity Lott, Terfel famously singing a verse in Welsh). However, in recent years the inclusion of the song and other patriotic tunes has been much criticised — notably by Leonard Slatkin — and the presentation has been occasionally amended.

It also plays a prominent role in the BBC Radio 4 UK Theme by Fritz Spiegl, symbolically drawing the four nations together in the final section.

The song is also sung by supporters of Scottish football club Rangers F.C. due to its Protestant-Unionist base, symbolising loyalty to Britain, a contrast to Old Firm rivals the Irish-Catholic based Celtic F.C..

The melody of the song's chorus was appropriated by the Marx Brothers' film Duck Soup as the song "Hail, Freedonia!", the national anthem of the fictional country of Freedonia.

The melody of 'Rule Britannia' can also be heard in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and is an obvious reference to Britain's status as the foremost global power of the movie's time setting.

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Lyrics

When Britain first at Heav'n's command

Arose from out the azure main;

This was the charter of the land,

And guardian angels sang this strain;

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

Britons never shall be slaves.

The nations not so blest as thee,

Shall in their turns to tyrants fall;

While thou shalt flourish great and free,

The dread and envy of them all.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

Britons never shall be slaves.

Still more majestic shalt thou rise,

More dreadful from each foreign stroke;

As the loud blast that tears the skies,

Serves but to root thy native oak.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

Britons never shall be slaves.

Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame,

All their attempts to bend thee down

Will but arouse thy generous flame;

But work their woe, and thy renown.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

Britons never shall be slaves.

To thee belongs the rural reign;

Thy cities shall with commerce shine;

All thine shall be the subject main,

And every shore it circles thine.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

Britons never shall be slaves.

The Muses, still with freedom found,

Shall to thy happy coast repair;

Blest Isle! With matchless beauty crowned,

And manly hearts to guide the fair.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

Britons never shall be slaves.

Although the lyrics are always set out as above, the lines are not sung this way; there is much repetition within verses. Thus, the first verse becomes:

When Britain first at Heav'n's command

Arose from out the azure main;

Arose, arose from out the azure main;

This was the charter, the charter of the land,

And guardian angels sang this strain;

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.

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