Editing Heart of Oak

{{Short description|British patriotic military song}}
{{About|the Royal Navy march}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{More citations needed|date=August 2008}}
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"'''Heart of Oak'''" is the official [[march (music)|march]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. It is also the official march of several [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] navies, including the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] and the [[Royal New Zealand Navy]]. It was the official march of the [[Royal Australian Navy]], but has now been replaced by the new march, "[[Royal Australian Navy (music)|Royal Australian Navy]]".<ref>{{Citation |title=Royal Australian Navy | date=13 March 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiXv0__DU2A |access-date=2023-11-30 |language=en}}</ref> As of late 2024, the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] is seeking an alternative official march "after deciding the lyrics, which celebrate British military victories in the colonial era and sing of men but not women, are disrespectful and outdated."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chase |first1=Steven |title=Navy to replace official Heart of Oak march with 'more inclusive' music |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-navy-to-replace-official-heart-of-oak-march-with-more-inclusive-music/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |publisher=Globe & Mail |date=21 November 2024}}</ref>

The music of ''Heart of Oak'' was written in 1759 by composer [[William Boyce (composer)|William Boyce]], the lyrics by actor [[David Garrick]], for Garrick's pantomime ''Harlequin's Invasion'', to which others contributed as well. The pantomime was first performed on New Year's Eve of that year at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London,<ref>John Ogasapian, ''Music of the Colonial and Revolutionary Era'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004), 100-101. {{ISBN|0313324352}}, 9780313324352</ref> with [[Handel]] soloist [[Samuel Thomas Champnes]] singing ''Heart of Oak''.

The "wonderful year" referenced in the first verse was the [[Annus Mirabilis of 1759]], during which British forces were victorious in several significant battles: the [[Battle of Minden]] on 1 August 1759; the [[Battle of Lagos]] on 19 August 1759; the [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham]] (outside [[Quebec City]]) on 13 September 1759; and the [[Battle of Quiberon Bay]] on 20 November 1759. The last battle foiled a [[Planned French Invasion of Britain (1759)|French invasion project]] planned by the [[Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul|Duc de Choiseul]] to defeat Britain during the [[Seven Years' War]], hence the reference in the song to 'flat-bottom' invasion barges. These victories were followed a few months later by the [[Battle of Wandiwash]] in India on 22 January 1760. [[Great Britain in the Seven Years War|Britain's continued success in the war]] boosted the song's popularity.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

The [[oak]] in the song's title refers to the wood from which British [[warship]]s were generally made during the [[age of sail]]. The "Heart of oak" is the strongest central wood of the tree. The reference to "freemen not slaves" echoes the refrain ("Britons never will be slaves!") of ''[[Rule, Britannia!]]'', written and composed two decades earlier.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brunsman|first=Denver|title=The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-century|publisher=University of Virginia Press|publication-place=Charlottesville, US|date=30 Mar 2013|isbn=9780813933511}}</ref>

The first verse and chorus of this version of the song is heard in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (Season 3, Episode 18 "[[Allegiance (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Allegiance]]"), sung in Ten Forward by [[Patrick Stewart]], in-character as an alien [[doppelgänger]] of Captain [[Jean-Luc Picard]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/T7Vadzjac6g Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140408081239/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Vadzjac6g Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Vadzjac6g| title = Picard Singing in Ten Forward | website=[[YouTube]]| date = 9 August 2010 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Both are also sung by [[Peter Ustinov]] and [[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]] in the 1968 [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] movie ''[[Blackbeard's Ghost]]''.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/6mru8G84o1c Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |title=Blackbeard's Ghost - Heart of Oak (English) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mru8G84o1c |website=[[YouTube]]| date=15 July 2011 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Lyrics==
===Original===
The song was written for the London stage in 1759 by [[William Boyce (composer)|William Boyce]] with words by [[David Garrick]]:<ref>{{Cite news|title=March Marches on: Remembering the 104th Regiment of Foot|date=13 March 2018|work=Daily Gleaner|via=ProQuest}}</ref>
<blockquote>
Come cheer up, my lads! 'tis to glory we steer,<br />
To add something more to this wonderful year;<br />
To honour we call you, as free men not slaves,<br />
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?<br />

''Chorus'':<br />
Heart of oak are our ships, heart of oak are our men;<br />
We always are ready, steady, boys, steady!<br />
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.<ref>[https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/modules/hi254/timetable/print/ Print Culture]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Department of History, [[University of Warwick]], 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2018</ref>
</blockquote>

===Amended words===
<blockquote>
Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,<br />
To add something new to this wonderful year;<br />
To honour we call you, as freemen not slaves,<br />
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?

''Chorus'':<br />
Heart of Oak are our ships,<br /> 
Jolly Tars are our men,<br /> 
We always are ready: Steady, boys, Steady!<br /> 
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

We ne'er see our foes but we wish them to stay,<br />
They never see us but they wish us away;<br />
If they run, why we follow, and run them ashore,<br />
For if they won't fight us, what can we do more?

(''Chorus'')

They say they'll invade us, these terrible foes,<br />
They frighten our women, our children, our beaus,<br />
But if they in their flat-bottoms, in darkness set oar,<br />
Still Britons they'll find to receive them on shore.

(''Chorus'')

We still make them fear and we still make them flee,<br />
And drub them ashore as we drub them at sea,<br />
Then cheer up me lads with one heart let us sing,<br />
Our soldiers and sailors, our statesmen and king.

(''Chorus'')

'''Alternative first verse''':<br />
Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,<br />
With heads carried high, we will banish all fear;<br />
To honour we call you, as freemen not slaves,<br />
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?

'''Alternative last verse''':<br />
Britannia triumphant her ships rule the seas,<br />
Her watchword is 'Justice' her password is 'Free',<br />
So come cheer up my lads, with one heart let us sing,<br />
Our soldiers, our sailors, our statesmen, our King [Queen].
</blockquote>

===Royal Canadian Navy===
<blockquote>
Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,<br />
To add something new to this wonderful year;<br />
To honour we call you, not press you like slaves,<br />
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?

''Chorus'':<br />
Heart of Oak are our ships,<br /> 
Jolly Tars are our men,<br /> 
We always are ready: Steady, boys, steady!<br /> 
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YTl5jFnhPs] [[Naden Band of Maritime Forces Pacific|The Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy]], 03 May 2020. Retrieved 02 February 2023</ref>
</blockquote>

===French lyrics ([[Royal Canadian Sea Cadets]])===
<blockquote>
Debout mes gaillards, pointons-nous vers la gloire,<br />
Fleurons ajoutons à ces heures sans déboire{{ref|a}}<br />
Sans carcans et sans joug,<br />
Tout l'honneur nous attend,<br />
Pour nous qui sommes les fils libres de l'océan.

Coeur de chêne nos navires<br /> 
Gais lurons nos marins<br /> 
Toujours fidèles au poste,<br />
Hardis, gars, hardis!<br /> 
L'avenir est à nous les vrais!

Coeur de chêne nos navires,<br /> 
Gais lurons nos marins,<br /> 
Toujours fidèles au poste,<br />
Hardis, gars, hardis!<br /> 
L'avenir est à nous les vrais conquérants!<ref>[https://www.gatineau.cc/musique]. CCMRC Gatineau 236. 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2024</ref>
</blockquote>

==Notes==
:1.{{note|a}}Some cadet units use instead "Fleurons ajoutons à cet an sans déboire".

==New lyrics==
A new version was presented on 16 April 1809 and published by Reverend Rylance.<ref>Rylance, Reverence (1809). ''Spirit of the public Journals,'' vol. XIII, p.&nbsp;75.</ref>
<blockquote>
When [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]], our King, drove the Dane from this land,<br />
He planted an oak<ref>The reference is to an oak which stood close to the Water Walk, the  [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], and by tradition was planted by King Alfred. However the oak collapsed in 1778 and a chair for the college President was made from it.</ref> with his own royal hand;<br />
And he pray'd for Heaven's blessing to hallow the tree,<br />
As a sceptre for England, the queen of the sea.

Chorus:
:Heart of oak<ref>Reference to the [[rift sawing]] of [[hardwood]]s used in boat and ship construction. This produces timber less susceptible to warping and shrinkage and lumber of great stability. Contemporary opinions were that the British sailors were more steady in combat than the French, who were prone to over-excitement and, therefore, more difficult to command in combat.</ref> are our ships,
:Hearts of oak are our men,
:We always are ready, steady boys, steady,
:To charge and to conquer again and again.

The sapling shot up and stuck firm to the ground;<br />
It defied every tempest that bellow'd around;<br />
And still was it seen with fresh vigour to shoot,<br />
When the blood of our martyrs had moisten'd its root.

(Chorus)

But the worms of corruption had eaten their way<br />
Through its bark; till a Wardle<ref>The name Wardle is said to be derived from "Ward Hill", connoting a "fortified place", as a reference to the [[ship of the line]], described as "wooden walls".</ref> has swept them away,<br />
He has sworn, no such reptiles our tree shall infest,<br />
And our patriots soon shall extirpate the nest.

(Chorus)

Yon tyrant, whose rule abject Europe bemoans&nbsp;—<br />
Yon brood of usurpers who sit on her thrones&nbsp;—<br />
Shall look on our country, and tremble with awe,<br />
''Where a son of the Monarch has bow'd to the law'',

(Chorus)

Now long live the ''Briton'', who dar'd to revive<br />
The spirit which Britons scarce felt was alive;<br />
His name shall be {{not a typo|carv'd}}, while of freedom we sing,<br />
On the oak that was planted by Alfred our King.

(Chorus)
</blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Royal Air Force March Past]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.stadband.ca/snd/heartofoak.mp3 "Heart of Oak" (MP3)] at [http://www.stadband.ca/main.php?content=ssi/sound.html&language=en Sounds of the Stadacona Band]
*[http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/10235.mp3 "Heart of Oak" (MP3)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303141301/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/10235.mp3 |date=3 March 2020 }} at [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/gramophone/m2-3001.1-e.html Canadian Historical Sound Recordings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001062329/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/gramophone/m2-3001.1-e.html |date=1 October 2007 }}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:British military marches]]
[[Category:British patriotic songs]]
[[Category:Royal Navy traditions]]
[[Category:Canadian military marches]]
[[Category:Navy of Canada]]
[[Category:Royal New Zealand Navy]]
[[Category:New Zealand military marches]]
[[Category:18th-century songs]]
[[Category:Compositions by William Boyce]]