h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sounds so straight forward...but no - "God save the Queen" is the _British_ anthem. (The line about "Rebellious Scots to crush" notwithstanding).
Similarily "Rule Britania", and even (I think) "Land of Hope and Glory".
Now Scotland have got "Flower of Scotland", Wales more than likely have their own national anthem (but I wouldn't have the phlegm to pronounce it) and even the Falklands probably have a bit of a sing-song. ("I've got ewe babe?" )

So - what is it?

Land of hope and Glory is English actually not British. A further misconception is that the words to Rule Britannia are "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves.". it is actually Britannina rule the waves. It is a instruction rather then a statement.

not that that makes it any better!

A bit of research turns up: "During World War I, it was used as the theme for part of a poem by A. C. Benson (1862-1925) by the music hall star Marie Lloyd"
The words of this are about "Crown" and "Empire"....but I'll accept the chorus as an English National Anthem until something better is turned up. (The IRL suggestion of "Jerusalem" being rejected because (a) its a hymn and (b) its a f=dreary dirge )

I guess you've not heard a recording of Flanders and Swan- either 'At the Drop of a Hat' or 'At the Drop of Another Hat' they had a song in there of Patriotic Predjudice.
"The English, the English, the English are best, I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest. Its not that they're wicked or naturally bad, its ~knowing they're foreign~ which makes them ~so~ mad!"

The Welsh national anthem is 'Hen Wlad fy Nhadau' or 'The old land of my fathers'. It was written in 1856 by Evan James (words) and his son (music).

There is some dispute over who wrote the British national anthem, but it is generally attributed to Dr Henry Carey in 1740. It was later arranged by Dr Arne in 1745 as 'A Song for Two Voices'. It was never 'chosen' to be the national anthem. By the time it was first performed the Act of Union was in place, so England per se wouldn't have a national anthem.

Technically, England ceased to exist as an administrative / legislative entity in 1710 when the Act of Union came about. Before the mid-18th century there was no need or desire for a 'national anthem', so England never had one. I suspect that further investigation will show that most national anthems date from after this time.

Oh, I almost forgot. The line about crushing 'rebellious Scots' does not appear in modern texts of the national anthem. It would have been there in 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie and his followers were stirring up trouble. (Apologies if that sentence offended any Scots, but that's the way the English would have seen it back then.)

Any way you cannot have Jerusalem cos it has been misappropriated as a hymn.

The dark satanic mills Blake talks about are not the cotton mills of the north but Oxford and Cambridge who churned out religious orthodoxy. It is infact all about sexual liberation and a cry for free love. Which is why it is so funny that is played at weddings!

I enjoy singing Jerusalem. It is interesting that God Save the Queen should be one of the oldest National Anthems. Do we have proof of that? Do we date from time of composition or time of being appointed official national anthem (the German one was kicking around for a bit before actually being (mis)used as a national hymn, I should think.) ??

And that's a hymn, too, so why can't you have Jerusalem. (Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion city of our God etc etc)

Oh I am not saying that it is not a rip-roaring tune but it is a protest song about the people being dictated to by clerics with a vested interest in the system.

Footballs coming home???

I don't know when 'God Save the Queen / King' became the national anthem. As I said, although it was written in 1740 it wasn't publicly performed until 1745 and then probably only as a morale-boosting patriotic song. It was never 'appointed' or chosen to be the national anthem. Somehow that just happened. As for it being one of the oldest, I don't know when the other national anthems were written, although the U.S. national anthem as we know it today is unlikely to have been written before late in the second half of the 18th century.

It might be interesting to find out WHY we have national anthems, as well as when they were written. After all, there were no major sporting events to sing them after, so what was their original purpose?

I've just done some checking and, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica ([Broken link removed by Moderator]), Britain's national anthem is the oldest, being described as a national anthem back in 1825. Other national anthems date from the 19th and 20th centuries. The encyclopedia doesn't say why countries felt the need for national anthems, though. I suppose it was just so they had a song to be sung on state occasions and to encourage patriotic feeling. But why did they feel that this was necessary?

Dark satanic mills, I'll show you dark satanic mills...

Anyway why should the English have to have a national anthem, surely their inate superiority shows through without the need to express itself in some jingoistic dirge.


And as Billy Connoley once said, can't we have the theme from the Archers

Many countries around the world haven't been independent all that long. I guess there's an attraction in having an official song to have a unifying effect on the population of a new country. It helps people identify with something distinctive about themselves. Hence no doubt why the Welsh anthem is in Welsh, when most of us are English-speaking.

Something which interests me is how an anthem emerges in a country which has no government to impose one. How exactly did Hen Wlad fy Nhadau emerge, rather than something else? Who chose it?

There must be some sort of sense of national identity among the population for an anthem to catch on, and maybe that's why England doesn't really have one as yet. Scotland's adoption of Flower of Scotland is very recent, and seems to have co-incided with enthusiasm for devolution. Some time in the mid-eighties, the football and rugby teams adopted it in place of "Scotland the Brave", and suddenly it was accepted as being the national anthem. At the time, there was no Scottish parliament - the choice seems to have been driven by the football crowds more than the politicians.

All of which suggests that maybe "Football's Coming Home" really *is* the English national anthem. Or at least will be soon...

The London/England Monarchs American Football team used Land of Hope and Glory. Also very popular at the Proms.

ooh thanks for reminding me DD - gotta get my Proms season ticket! 

OK. I know one thing for definate, and that is that "God Save The Queen" is the BRITISH national anthem. As far as I know the ENGLISH national anthem is indeed "Land of Hope and Glory".

I come to this as follows:
In the Olympics, it is only Britain that performs, not individual countries, ie Scotland, Wales, England, etc.
However, in the COMMONWEALTH games (formerly the Empire games, the name change for obvious reasons) all of the British islands compete individually, and "Land of Hope and Glory" is the song played whenever England are on the podium. So my best guess is that this is our national anthem, and it does anger me when it is not this, but "God Save the Queen" which is played normally at major international events, eg. Euro 2000.

None of this matters, because it should still be "Three Lion's (Football's Coming Home)"

Blah, blah, blah. Typical english mentality. Forget that it is a United Kingdom whose national anthem is 'God sav the Queen/King', depending on gender of monarch, and that England is just one segment of siad kingdom.

I think the Commonwealth Games is the only event that uses Land of Hope & Glory as an English anthem. Possibly because the whole point of the Commonwealth is that she is (or was) queen of virtually all the countries involved.

For the rugby or football, the English use God Save the Queen, which just makes it that little bit more satisfying when someone else beats the arrogant b------s.

Just a thought - maybe they could adopt the Milwall song - "No-one likes us, we don't care"

On that note I'm off to cheer on Romania.

Only joking.