About Andrew Cusack
Writer, web designer, etc.; born in New York; educated in Argentina, Scotland, and South Africa; now based in London. read more
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Happy Dominion Day!
A day late, I hope all our Canadian friends and neighbours have enjoyed a happy and blessed Dominion Day. In tribute to the Great White North, I present our dear readers with that wonderful song, the anthem of anglophone Canada – thistle, shamrock, rose entwined – the Maple Leaf Forever. It is one of my favorite tunes, and were I governor of this fair land, after making coattails and top hats de rigeur for gubernatorial events, I think I’d steal the notes and make a new song called Empire State Forever.
So all that remains is to say long live Canada and God Save the Queen!
[Click here for MP3 audio file]
In Days of yore, from Britain’s shore,
Wolfe, the dauntless hero came,
And planted firm Britannia’s flag,
On Canada’s fair domain.
Here may it wave, our boast, our pride,
And joined in love together,
The thistle, shamrock, rose entwined,
The Maple Leaf forever!
The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear,
The Maple Leaf forever!
God save our Queen, and Heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf forever!
At Queenston Heights and Lundy’s Lane,
Our brave fathers, side by side,
For freedom, homes, and loved ones dear,
Firmly stood and nobly died;
And those dear rights which they maintained,
We swear to yield them never!
Our watchword evermore shall be,
The Maple Leaf forever!
The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear,
The Maple Leaf forever!
God save our Queen, and Heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf forever!
Our fair Dominion now extends
From Cape Race to Nootka Sound;
May peace forever be our lot,
And plenteous store abound:
And may those ties of love be ours
Which discord cannot sever,
And flourish green o’er freedom’s home
The Maple Leaf forever!
The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear,
The Maple Leaf forever!
God save our Queen, and Heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf forever!
On merry England’s far-famed land,
May kind Heaven sweetly smile;
God bless Old Scotland evermore,
And Ireland’s Emer’ld Isle!
Then swell the song, both loud and long,
Till rocks and forest quiver,
God save our Queen, and Heaven bless
The Maple Leaf forever!
The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear,
The Maple Leaf forever!
God save our Queen, and Heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf forever!
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I was chatting with some folk online, and the subject of anthems came up. The Canadian History channel has been running a series called “For King and Empire”, the theme music for which was a beautiful pipe rendition of “The Maple Leaf Forever”. I found your site and was delighted to find something very similar. And then I laughed, because in the middle was “Alberta Bound”, which is a particular, local, anthem for Albertans, like myself, who had to join the economic dispora in the days when Alberta’s streets were paved with something much dissimilar from gold. Thank you very much – for both!
It is the odd coincidence that makes the Internet so enjoyable. An American friend in Canada sent me the note below.
“[My wife] and I got to talking about the Canadian national anthem, O Canada. Before O Canada, I suggested there was The Maple Leaf Forever. I asked [my wife] whether she knew The Maple Leaf Forever, since that was what CBC used to play as a signal in their international service. She said she’d never even heard of it. So I looked it up. What a paean to English Canada it is. [My wife] went to school in this here country, and she never heard of the Battles of Queenston Heights or Lundy’s Lane, and both were decisive in keeping Canada out of US hands.”
In doing a bit of research, I ran across your “Happy Dominion Day!” post from last year, with its stirring pipe band rendition of the song. I responded with my much-out-of-favor favorite, “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean” and we were both happy. Thanks very much, Andrew.
And the beat goes on…… they just played this on Hockey Night in Canada as a tribute to the Vimy remembrance service on Monday, so I googled away and found your MP3. A fabulous rendition of the real Canadian national anthem. Now all I’ve got to do is edit out the Alberta bound bit in the middle!
Hockey Night in Canada…CBC….playing “The Maple Leaf Forever”? Did Don Cherry have anything to do with this?
I’m very happy to hear the 48th Highlander rendition of Canada’s national anthem.
Ian
Far to often we hear the patroitic music of our American brothers when in fact we have much to be proud about. A military band playing the Maple Leaf Forever is as stirring as anything on this earth. I played six years in a Sea Cadet Band and 11 years in Militia Bands. The PEI Hymn is a beautiful piece as well as the one about Ontario. Give ne a place to stand.
A useful and informative site; I agree with the comment about a band playing The maple Leaf. It is a stirring tune.
It should be sung ‘with heart and voice’.
“The Maple Leaf Forever” can be heard sung at the foloowing web-site. Just go to the bottom 0of the page and you should be able to hear an MP3 version of the “unofficial” anthem of Canada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maple_Leaf_Forever
The Maple Leaf Forever is a fantastic song to listen to.
For my entire life (from the time my Canadian father and grandmother taught me the song “The Maple Leaf Forever”
when I was about 5 or 6) until I went to my first hockey
game around 1993 in San Jose CA with Sharks playing against the Canucks, I didn’t realize it had been changed to “O Canada” – was actually very disappointed that the “Maple Leaf” had been replaced. Now live in “politically correct” Santa Cruz,Ca but am sorry polically correct won out over a great and stirring anthem.
Terrific song! It is just so unfortunate that the original lyrics made a reference to Wolfe as a hero – an absolute guarantee that the song would be rejected as jingoism on the shores of the Saint Lawrence river, where I live – and that they made no reference to the first bunch of Europeans who came to settle this country, exactly a century and a half before the so-called “dauntless hero” came. The rose, the shamrock and the thistle are all fine, but the lilly is also part of this snowy garden of ours!
Thank you for the lovely post. The song was written for Dominion Day.
It was wonderful to have Our Sovereign Lady with us this Dominion Day.
Watch here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQc1_NpfXBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyWr8CKKhWs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JFCg07apW8