Rule Britannia

Rule Britannia is a patriotic British national song, originating from the poem Rule Britannia by James Thomson, and put 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.

Related Topics:
Britannia - Patriotic - British - Song - Poem - James Thomson - Thomas Arne - 1740 - Alfred - Masque - Alfred the Great - David Mallet - Cliveden - Frederick, Prince of Wales - King George I

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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 to the words, 'War shall cease, welcome peace!' Predictably 'Rule, Britannia!' was seized upon by the Jacobites and James Thomson's words were altered.

Related Topics:
London - 1745 - Handel - Jacobites

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At the time it appeared, the song was not a celebration of the existing state of naval affairs as Britain did not "rule the waves" - it rather attempted to revive the era when, under Alfred the Great, the British ships outdid the Danish. However, over the next two centuries the Royal Navy became a dominant force on the oceans and protected Britain and her burgeoning Empire from a number of "haughty tyrants" and "foreign strokes". The jesting lyrics of the mid 1700s had assumed a material and patriotic significance by the end of the nineteenth century.

Related Topics:
Danish - Royal Navy - Empire

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The melody was the theme for a set of variations for piano by Ludwig van Beethoven (WoO 79) and also used in Wellington's Victory (Wellington's Sieg, opus 91) by the same composer.

Related Topics:
Variations - Piano - Ludwig van Beethoven - WoO - Wellington's Victory

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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.

Related Topics:
BBC - Last Night of the Proms - Bryn Terfel - Thomas Hampson - Felicity Lott - Welsh - Leonard Slatkin

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:When Britain first at Heav'n's command

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:Arose from out the azure main;

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:This was the charter of the land,

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:And guardian angels sang this strain;

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:Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

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:Britons never shall be slaves.

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:The nations not so blest as thee,

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:Shall in their turns to tyrants fall;

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:While thou shalt flourish great and free,

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:The dread and envy of them all.

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:Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

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:Britons never shall be slaves.

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:Still more majestic shalt thou rise,

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:More dreadful from each foreign stroke;

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:As the loud blast that tears the skies,

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:Serves but to root thy native oak.

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:Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

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:Britons never shall be slaves.

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:Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame,

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:All their attempts to bend thee down

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:Will but arouse thy generous flame;

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:But work their woe, and thy renown.

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:Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

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:Britons never shall be slaves.

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:To thee belongs the rural reign;

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:Thy cities shall with commerce shine;

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:All thine shall be the subject main,

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:And every shore it circles thine.

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:Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

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:Britons never shall be slaves.

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:The Muses, still with freedom found,

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:Shall to thy happy coast repair;

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:Blest Isle! With matchless beauty crowned,

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:And manly hearts to guide the fair.

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:Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:

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:Britons never shall be slaves.

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