Heart of Oak

DESCRIPTION: In praise of the British Navy that can drive off any foe: "Heart of oak are our ships, Jolly tars are our men: We are always ready. Steady, boys, steady, We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again."
AUTHOR: Words: David Garrick/Music: Dr. William Boyce
EARLIEST DATE: 1759 ("Harlequin's Invasion")
KEYWORDS: navy sailor patriotic ship nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 715-717, "Heart of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge-OldEnglishPopularMusic II, pp. 189-191, "Heart of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ashton-RealSailorSongs, #92, "Hearts of Oak" (1 text)
Kinsey-SongsOfTheSea, pp. 155-156, "Heart of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stone-SeaSongsAndBallads XXX, pp. 44-45, "Hearts of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HEARTOAK*
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 220,"Hearts of Oak" (1 text)
Aline Waites & Robin Hunter, _The Illustrated Victorian Songbook_, Michael Joseph Ltd., 1984, pp. 212-213, "Heart of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Hawke" (context of the Battle of Quiberon Bay)
SAME TUNE:
Liberty/The Liverty Song ("Come join hand in hand, brave Americans all") (by John Dickinson) (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, pp. 14-15, 26; Darling-NewAmericanSongster, p. 340; Rabson-SongbookOfTheAmericanRevolution, pp. 6-8)
Come Shake Your Dull Noddles [parody of The Liberty Song] (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 30; Rabson-SongbookOfTheAmericanRevolution, p. 9)
The Massachusetts Liberty Song [parody by Benjamin Church of The Liberty Song, and once printed from the same staff notation!] (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 31)
A New Liberty Song ("Come rouse up my lads and join this great cause") (by J. W. Hewlings) (Rabson-SongbookOfTheAmericanRevolution, p. 10)
A Refugee Song ("Here's a bumper, brave boys, to the health of our King") (Rabson-SongbookOfTheAmericanRevolution, p. 11)
NOTES [233 words]: This may not, at first glance, seem a folk song -- but it is one of Great Britain's leading patriotic songs; Morison, p. 165, says that "British throats went hoarse bawling out 'Heart of Oak"" in 1759, the year of England's greatest success in the Seven Years' War (Morison quotes the song on p. 170).
It appears that the song and the furor were inspired by the English success at Quiberon Bay, in which Admiral Hawke's British squadron demolished a French fleet and ended any possibility of France invading Britain. (Herman, p. 290. For Hawke and his various victories, see the notes to "Bold Hawke.")
The song is quite correct in describing British ships as built of oak. Oak was the preferred wood for ships because it resisted rot -- presumably because of the tannic acid found in it. It didn't last forever, but other woods usually wore out sooner (Cordingly, p. 18).
It is ironic to note that what is believed to have been the first American pro-independence song was set to this tune; in 1768. John Dickinson published what was called the "Song for American Freedom." We do not, however, seem to know what the song was actually about; Fisher, pp. 20-21, notes that an advertisement for Dickinson's song survives, but no copy of the text itself has been preserved.
According to Waites & Hunter, this was originally written by David Garrick for a pantomime called "Harlequin's Invasion." - RBW
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File: ChWII189

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