Heart of Oak

This article is about the Royal Navy march. For other uses, see Heart of Oak (disambiguation).

Heart of Oak
Heart of Oak, by Cecilian Male Quartet, Canada 1915
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"Heart of Oak" is the official march of the Royal Navy. It is also the official march of several 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 It was the official march of the Royal Australian Navy, but has now been replaced by the new march, "Royal Australian Navy".[1] As of late 2024, the Royal Canadian Navy is seeking an alternative official march "after deciding the lyrics, which celebrate British military victories in the colonial era and sing of men but not women, are disrespectful and outdated." [2]

The music of Heart of Oak was written in 1759 by 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,[3] 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 French invasion project planned by the 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. Britain's continued success in the war boosted the song's popularity.[citation needed]

The oak in the song's title refers to the wood from which British warships 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.[4]

The first verse and chorus of this version of the song is heard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 3, Episode 18 "Allegiance"), sung in Ten Forward by Patrick Stewart, in-character as an alien doppelgänger of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.[5] Both are also sung by Peter Ustinov and Dean Jones in the 1968 Disney movie Blackbeard's Ghost.[6]

  1. ^ Royal Australian Navy, retrieved 30 November 2023
  2. ^ Chase, Steven (21 November 2024). "Navy to replace official Heart of Oak march with 'more inclusive' music". Globe & Mail. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. ^ John Ogasapian, Music of the Colonial and Revolutionary Era (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004), 100-101. ISBN 0313324352, 9780313324352
  4. ^ Brunsman, Denver (30 March 2013). The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-century. Charlottesville, US: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 9780813933511.
  5. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Picard Singing in Ten Forward". YouTube.
  6. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive: "Blackbeard's Ghost - Heart of Oak (English)". YouTube.