1819
National Songs – No.1
| Tune: | See the Conquering Hero Comes |
| Lyrics: | Unknown |
Britons, once the pride of earth,
Shall we shame our noble birth?
Shall we galling fetters wear,
And bend our heads in mute despair?
Hark! Our fathers’ spirits cry,
‘Can our sons in bondage die?
Do the rights we bled to gain
Our children view with cold disdain?’
No! ye spirit of our sires,
Freedom still each Briton fires;
Still our choral song shall be,
‘O who would live that lives not free?’
Tyrants! Vainly do you rave!
Dungeons, chains, and death we brave;
Ne’er shall base, perverted law
Our course suspend, our bosoms awe.
Dare not hope your hostile arms
Shake our breasts with dire alarms!
Thou your thousands crowd the field,
Our native rights we ne’er will yield.
Bid your sabres gleam around!
Wake your cannons thundering sound;
Sabres’ gleam and cannons’ roar
But rouse our British courage more.
Tyrants! Short will be your hour;
Soon must end your gloomy power;
Soon shall Vengeance hear our call,
And shoulting millions hail your fall!
The Peterloo Massacre prompted literally hundreds of furious protest songs. This is one of the most interesting in its use of Handel’s grandiose melody; the author’s pseudonym ‘Alfred’ – a king closely associated with constitutional reformism; and its rhetoric. Tradition and patriotism are here used to defy native, not foreign tyranny, and foretell the ‘vengeance’ of ‘millions’.
| Cause: | Collectivist | Equal Rights | Anti-militarist |
| Theme: | Political Process | Rights |
| Addressed to: | Britons | Political Elite |
| Target of Protest: | Aristocracy | The Ruler |
| Proposal/Solution: | Organisation |