Heart of Oak

Este himno coexiste con el anterior. Es una marcha oficial, e himno no oficial, de la Royal Navy. También de la de Canadá .

Compositor: Dr William Boyce. Letra: David Garrick (1759).

El párrafo en el que habla del "wonderful year" (año maravillosos) se refiere a 1759-60. En este período, los británicos vencieron en varias batallas en diferentes lugares: Lagos (África, 19-8-1759), Quebec City (13-9-1759), Quiberon Bay (20-11-1759), y Wandiwash (India, 22-1-1760).

Esta pieza perteneció, inicialmente, a una ópera. Al convertirla en marcha, la letra sólo sufrió una ligera adaptación. Aún la cantan, orgullosos, muchos soldados y cadetes de la Commonwealth.

Se cantaba frecuentemente al ritmo del tambor en el fragor de la batalla para motivar a los hombres.

Letra
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?
(una vez...)
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.
(una vez...)

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.
(una vez...)
[a veces se omite este verso]
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.
(dos veces...)

Versión canadiense
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...)

Enlaces

Para oir y bajar:
https://www.hmsrichmond.org/music/hartoak.mid
https://anthem4england.co.uk/modules/xoo ... d=1&lid=20