And did those feet in Ancient Time?

March 22nd, 2009 | by: Rob | View Comments

I was watching the Six Nations, as I am want to do at this time of year yesterday. (For those not in the loop, the Six Nations is a Rugby Union Tournament between, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy. Ireland won this year) Alot of things are always striking – the fact that the fans stand shoulder to shoulder sharing banter in the pub, the respect they have for the referee, the fact that England aren’t in the Celtic Cup. Most distracting for me however, was (as usual) the National Anthems.

First off, France and Italy both have magnificent anthems. I’d probably be more proud of my countries achievements if Fratelli d’Italia or La Marseillaise came on regularly enough.

Second, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Though in rugby they play as a United Ireland, so its tricky ground for them anyway) technically don’t have national anthems. The national anthem of Great Britian is of course God Save The Queen. (sadly not this God Save The Queen) Which means England, Scotland and Wales (I wouldn’t want to get into the Ireland situation too deep) should all have God Save The Queen before matches.

Of course, they don’t. The Scots, aggrieved at the fact there is a never-sung verse to God Save The Queen that says stuff about crushing the Scots (or Jacobites as they would have been) and wanting to show independence from Britian use Flower of Scotland before football and rugby matches.

The Welsh meanwhile have Land of My Fathers, a national anthem in everything but law. In official occasions, they still have to play a snippet of God Save The Queen in conjunction with it, but the Welsh have been successful in all but establishing it as their anthem.

We need, in my view to take a leaf out of their books, for a few reasons. First, God Save The Queen is no more ours than thiers. Its the British Anthem. There’s an interesting bit in Jeremy Paxman’s (very good) book The English where he discusses the idea that the English will be the last people freed from their own Empire. Its true, to a large extent.

The other reasons are that a) God Save The Queen is a horrendous dirge that seems to sum up all the worst things about being British/English and b) Not a great many people believe in the sentiment anymore. Its entirely irrelevant, save for a few touristy Americans and nutty Middle England racists.

So its time to have another. But what I hear you ask are the contenders? Well there are a few.

First, I Vow To Thee, My Country. On the plus side its very English, very patriotic. Originally a poem, it discusses the idea of having two homes (England and Heaven) and being thankful for each. The religious side might seem irrelevant 100 years on though. It also seems to have been nabbed by the Welsh – Katherine Jenkins and Charlotte Church versions are all YouTube has.

Then there is Land of Hope and Glory. A BBC Poll in 2006 showed most people would prefer it to God Save The Queen, and the Rugby League side used it for awhile. Elgar is well loved in England – he’s on our £20 note, along with economist Adam Smith. On the downside, its technically a British Anthem, comissioned as it was by a British King.

Which leaves my personal choice, Jeruselum. Originally a poem by William Blake called “And did those feet in Ancient Time” it was set to music and renamed in 1916. Blake’s poem does a good job, for me of summing up a very English sort of patriotism.

It starts asking four questions

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?

All of which the answer to is No. Which seems rather unpatriotic, and is probably the reason its not been adopted yet. It even has a go at the mills of the time suggesting them alltogether unholy.

What it does though, is move into a more rousing message which would be great to hear sung defiantly by our sportspeople.

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire !

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.

The whole idea of the poem is this: No on the face of it England isn’t amazing, but we can make it amazing. Did Jesus wonder round here? No. So lets concentrare on making the best of it that we can. Isn’t that what a national anthem should be saying, rather than, lets protect someone most of us don’t really care about?