"Heart of Oak" is the official march of the
Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It is also
the official march of the Canadian Navy, as
well as the Canadian Forces' Naval
Operations Branch.The music was composed by Dr William
Boyce and the words were written by the
18th Century English actor David Garrick.
Heart of Oak was originally written as an opera.
The "wonderful year" referenced in the first verse is 1759-60, during which British forces were victorious in several significant battles: the Battle of Lagos on August 19, 1759, the battle of Quebec City on September 13, 1759 and the battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759. These were followed a few months later by the Battle of Wandiwash in India on 22 January 1760.
Original lyrics
Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,
To add something more to this wonderful year;
To honour we call you, as freemen not slaves,
For who are as free as the sons of the waves?
(Chorus sung once...)
Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,
we always are ready; Steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.
We never see the French but we wish them to stay,
They always see us and they wish us away;
If they run, we will follow, we will drive them ashore,
And if they won't fight, we can do no more.
(Chorus sung once...)
They swear they'll invade us, these terrible foes,
They frighten our women, our children and beaus,
But should their flat bottoms in darkness get o'er,
Still Britons they'll find to receive them on shore.
(Chorus sung once...)
[Verse sometimes omitted]
Britannia triumphant, her ships sweep the sea,
Her standard is Justice -- her watchword, 'be free.'
Then cheer up, my lads, with one heart let us sing,
Our soldiers, our sailors, our statesmen, and king.
(Final Chorus sung twice...)
Canadian Version
Come cheer up my lads, tis to glory we steer,
To add something new to this wonderful year;
Tis to honour we call you, as free men not slaves,
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?
(Chorus)
Heart of oak our ships, jolly tars our men,
We always are ready, steady boys, steady.
We'll fight and we'll conquer again, and again.
We ne'er see our foes, but we wish them to stay;
They always see us and they wish us away;
If they run we will follow, we will drive them ashore;
For if they won't fight we can do no more.
(Chorus)
They say they'll invade us, these terrible foes;
Frighten our women, our children, our beaus;
But should their flat-bottoms, in darkness get o'er,
Stout Britons they'll find to defeat them ashore.
(Chorus)
Britannia triumphant, her ships rule the seas,
Her watchword is justice, her password is free.
So come cheer up my lads, with one heart let us sing,
Our soldiers, our sailors, our statesmen, our Queen.
(Chorus sung twice...)