Britons, Strike Home!

Britons, Strike Home! is a British patriotic song, originally an air written for a theatrical production by Henry Purcell in 1695. It was popular during the various wars of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

An unusually vicious caricature print by James Gillray dated 1803 and entitled "BUONAPARTE, 48 Hours after Landing!". Napoleon's severed head is held aloft on a pitchfork by John Bull whose hat bears the legend "BRITONS STRIKE HOME", which was a popular slogan during the Napoleonic Wars.

Origin

In the last year of Purcell's life, he wrote the music for an October 1695 adaptation of John Fletcher's tragedy, Bonduca, called Bonduca, or the British Heroine. Purcell's score has the "Z number" Z 574 and ranks amongst his finest music for the theatre,[1] In the play, the Ancient British general, Charatach is trying to rouse the army of Queen Bonduca against the Romans. He appeals to their god Divine Andate and finally commands, Now Sing, ye Druids. The Druids take up the theme with a duet, To Arms, To Arms! followed by a solo and Druid chorus, Britons, Strike Home![2] In 1728, the tune was used as Air LIX in The Beggar's Opera by John Gay.[3]

Lyrics

Purcell's original lyrics

(Solo by the Chief Druid, repeated by the chorus of Druids)

Britons, strike home!
Revenge, revenge your Country's wrong.
Fight! Fight and record. Fight!
Fight and record yourselves in Druid's Song.
Fight! Fight and record. Fight!
Fight and record yourselves in Druid's Song.[4]

Lyrics composed during the Invasion Scare of 1803–1805

Should Frenchmen e'er pollute Britannia's strand,
Or press with hostile hoof this sacred strand;
The daring deed should every Briton arm
To save his native land from dire alarm;
Her freeborn sons should instant take the field,
The Altar and the Throne to shield.
Chorus
Britons, strike home! avenge your country's cause,
Protect your King, your Liberties, and Laws!

There are a further five verses.[5]

Notable uses

References

  1. Curtis Alexander Price, Henry Purcell and the London Stage, Cambridge University Press 1984, ISBN 0-521-23831-5 (p.117)
  2. Adams, Martin (1995). Henry Purcell: The Origins and Development of His Musical Style. Cambridge University Press. pp. 334–335. ISBN 978-0521431590.
  3. The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Beggar's Opera, by John Gay (p.86)
  4. "Britons, strike home! (Henry Purcell)". ChoralWiki. Archived 25 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. John Ashton (1884), English caricature and satire on Napoleon I: Volume I, London: Chatto & Windus, p. 164–146
  6. Holmes, Richard (2011). Soldiers: Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors. Harper Press. p. 476.
  7. Ellet, Elizabeth. Women of the American Revolution. 1. Bedford, Massachusetts: Applewood Books. p. 179.
  8. Philippart, John (1826). The East India Military Calendar: Containing the Services of the General and Field Officers of the Indian Army. 3. London: Kingbury, Parbury and Allen.
  9. Hague, William (2005). William Pitt the Younger: A Biography. Harper Collins. p. 415. ISBN 0-00-714720-1.
  10. Alison, Archibald (1841). History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution. IV. Paris: Baudrey's European Library. p. 19.
  11. Hoffman, Frederick (1901). "Battle of Trafalgar". A Sailor of King George. London: John Murray. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013 via Blackmask Online.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. Rosenfeld, Gavriel D. (2005). The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-521-84706-0.
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