"God Save the Queen" is the national anthem of the United Kingdom. For those of you who aren't familiar, this is the tune:
Although there are three verses to the song (some alternative versions have six verses!), most people only know and sing the first verse.
I was curious about where this song and lyrics came from so I did a little research.
The origin of the tune and the lyrics are still unknown. In fact, the lyrics have had several versions and revisions over the years. Although the first verse remains consistent, the subsequent verses have different lyrics in different orders to this day.
The phrase "God Save the King" itself is older than the song itself, seen several times in the King James Bible and used in the 1540s as a watchword of the Royal Navy.
The original song was in response to the 1745 Jacobite uprising lead by Charles Edward Stuart (AKA "the The Young Pretender"). The Jacobite Rebellion was a political movement to restore the House of Stuart to the throne in Britian. Charles' troops invaded Scotland and posed a serious threat to the monarchy at the time, which was led by King George II. Although initially successful, the Jacobite movement inevitably failed a year later.
The first performance of the original song was in London in 1745 when it was sung in support of King George II. It was performed at the Theatre Royal in London after the staging of the play The Alchemist.
The original lyrics were:
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 King.
The anti-scottish sentiments reflect the Scottish background of the House of Stuart (which was behind the Jacobite Rebellion) and Marshall Wade was an officer in the Royal Army sent to stop the Jacobite troops in Scotland
Obviously the lyrics were changed once the song became the National Anthem for Great Britain (which includes Scotland, of course).
Today's version is performed at sporting events, traditional formal events (such as Wimbledon and the Royal Ascot), greeting the monarch and the royal family when they are present at events, and used to be played at the end of the day's programming on the BBC. It is also sung in other countries in the Commonwealth, including Australia and Canada, over whom the British monarchy reigns.
My fellow Americans will notice the tune is the same as our "My Country 'Tis of Thee" written in 1832.
Sources:
http://www.know-britain.com/songs/national_anthem.html
http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Symbols/NationalAnthem.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Save_the_Queen
I hope you enjoyed this little history lesson as much as I enjoyed learning about it for this post!
xxxx
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