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.
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]
(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]
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]
Boudica or Boudicca was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She is considered a British national heroine and a symbol of the struggle for justice and independence.
Henry Purcell was an English composer of Baroque music.
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William Croft was an English composer and organist.
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Bonduca is a Jacobean tragi-comedy in the Beaumont and Fletcher canon, generally judged by scholars to be the work of John Fletcher alone. It was acted by the King's Men c. 1613, and published in 1647 in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio.
Events from the year 1805 in the United Kingdom. This is the year of the Battle of Trafalgar.
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This Bibliography covers sources for Royal Navy history through the 18th and 19th centuries. Some sources may be duplicated in sections when appropriate. Among the contemporary and earlier historical accounts are primary sources, historical accounts, often derived from letters, dispatches, government and military records, captain's logs and diaries, etc., by people involved in or closely associated to the historical episode in question. Primary source material is either written by these people or often collected, compiled, and/or written and published by other editors also, sometimes many years after the historical subject has passed. Primary sources listed in this bibliography are denoted with an uppercase bold ' (P) before the book title. Publications that are in the public domain and available online for viewing in their entirety are denoted with E'Book.
The British is a 2012 British television series produced by Sky Atlantic. It comprises seven fifty-minute episodes. It covers several major events in the history of Britain throughout the years 43 AD to 1953. Including the Norman Conquest, Industrial Revolution and the Queen's Coronation. It stars Russell Brand, Jessie J, and Dame Helen Mirren, and is narrated by Jeremy Irons. It premiered 6 September 2012 on Sky Atlantic.
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