"RULE BRITANNIA."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3124, 26 February 1909, Page 4

"RULE BRITANNIA."

A shabby-looking volume of great interest has come by chance into the possession of Mr Quaritch. the celebrated English collector. It is probably the earliest existing, and perhaps the only, manuscript of the play "Alfred, a Masque," by James Thomson and David Mallet. "Alfred" has long been forgotten, but one of its parts has achieved immortality—the song "Rule Britannia," of which Southey said it would be "the political hymn of this country so long as she maintains her political power." Though the British and colonial publics know only the first verse and the chorus (many people, we fancy, know only the chorus), Southey's prediction is being fulfilled. "Rule Britannia" was the grand finals of "Alfred." A correspondent of the "Tunes" (London) says that Thomson's famous song passed through many changes, and "it is a very curious literary fact

that, in spite of its various vicissitudes, the original version of the song has completely lived down the various tinkerings tc, which it has been sub-

jected.' Two composers have been claimed for the music, Dr. Arne and Handel. A biographer of Handel went so far as tj declare that the imusic was borrowed from the Occasional Oratorio, but as "Alfred" was produced in 1740 and the Occasional Oratorio was not composed until some year 3 afterwards, Handel's claim falls to the ground. Adver-

tisements seem to establish Dr. Arne's claim beyond a doubt. "The Musick was composed by command of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales," ran an advertisement of the first production; "and never perform'd in England but at his Royal Highnes3's Palace at Cliefden. The poem was written by Mr Thomson and Mr Mallet. The Musick by Mr Arr.e."