THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1285, 15 August 1914, Page 4

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.

A note regarding the National Anthem may be acceptable to some of our younger readers. It was generally believed to have been composed by Dr John Bull (15621628) for King James the First, but the authorship of both words and music has been for long a matter of dispute. Mr Chappell, in his notes to his collection of Old English Airs, states that “about the year 1796 George Saville Carey,,asserted his father’s claim to the authorship of this song, and made a journey to Windsor in the hope of obtaining some pecuniary recompense from the King. . . It was by no means G. S. Carey’s wish, though he claimed the authorship lor his father, to prove also that it was first written for King James, as that would have defeated his hopes of reward It was

immediately proved, upon concurrent testimonies, to have been sung, “God Save Great James, Our King’ ; and from that time we may date the endless discussions and assertions on the subject. Although it is impossible to prove at this distance of time that Harry Carey was actually the author and composer of the National Anthem, yet there being not a shadow of proof of any other claim . . . leaves little doubt upon the subject. . . , AU attempts to

prove a copy before Carey’s time have tailed; moreover, it is admitted that he sang it in public (announcing it as his own production) five years before the first publication ; and his not claiming it when it obtained its great popularity in 1745 is explained by his having put an end to his existence three years before, at the advanced age of 80.” The latest authority on the subject thus sums the matter up : —“ What appears to be certain is that' 1745 is the earliest date assignable to the substantial National Anthem as we kuow it, and that both music and words had been evolved out of earlier forms. Bull’s is the earliest form of the air; Carey’s claim to the remodelling of the anthem rests on an unauthoritative tradition, and on general probabilities. Oswald is a strong cansidate.” It is interesting to note that in the new Church Praise the National Anthem is printed without authorship. This edition also omits the second verse, the fourth and fifth lines of which are sometimes objected to.