Ode to Newfoundland

DESCRIPTION: Known by the last verse, "As loved our fathers, so we love, Where once they stood we stand, Their prayer we raise to heav'n above, God guard thee, Newfoundland"
AUTHOR: Words: Sir Cavendish Boyle/Music (of most common version): C. Hubert H. Parry
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Murphy, Old Colony Song Book)
KEYWORDS: nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Doyle-OldTimeSongsAndPoetryOfNewfoundland, "Ode to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune): p. 7 in the 3rd edition, p. 9 in the 4th, p. 7 in the 5th
Blondahl-NewfoundlandersSing, Front-Cover, "The Ode to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mills-FavoriteSongsOfNewfoundland, p. 50, "Ode to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
England-HistoricNewfoundlandAndLabrador, p. 49, "Ode to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: James Murphy, compiler, _Songs & Ballads of Terra Nova_, Evening Telegram publishing, 1903 (available from the Memorial University of Newfoundland web site), p. 4, "Newfoundland" (1 text)
James Murphy, compiler/publisher, "(Old Colony Song Book: Newfoundland)," James Murphy, 1904 (available from the Memorial University of Newfoundland web site; the cover is missing, but I suspect it is a copy of "Songs of Our Land"), p. 4, "Newfoundland" (1 text)
Glenn Colton, "Imagining Nation: Music and Identity in Pre-Confederation Newfoundland" (article printed in _Newfoundland and Labrador Studies_, Volume 22, No. 1, pp. 33-34, "Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune, a setting by Charles Hutton); p. 37 (1 tune, the standard Parry setting)
Roud #7304
NOTES [412 words]: "The National Anthem of Newfoundland, written by Sir Cavendish Boyle ... while he was Britain's Governor of Newfoundland between 1901 and 1904 .... First public performance... 1902" [per GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site] - BS
It should be recalled that, at that time, Newfoundland was not a part of the Dominion of Canada. It was a separate British dominion. Boyle (1849-1916) was not a Newfoundlander; the "governor" was the British representative to the dominions. (Robert Bond was Primer Minister during Boyle's entire term.) Boyle had served in several other colonies before his time in Newfoundland. Despite not being a local, he had some actual role in governance, being involved in mediating the sealers' strike of 1902 (see "The Sealer's Strike of 1902 (The Sealers Gained the Strike)"). He apparently wrote many other poems about Newfoundland (see Robert H. Cuff, managing editor), Dictionary of Newfoundland and Labrador Biography, Harry Cuff Publications, 1990, p. 29, entry on Cavendish Boyle), but this was clearly his "hit."
According to Glenn Colton, "Imagining Nation: Music and Identity in Pre-Confederation Newfoundland" (article printed in Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, Volume 22, No. 1, pp. 28-29, the first performance of the piece was at the Casino Theatre in St. John's on January 21, 1902, using a tune set by E. R. Krippner. Colton, p. 31, has a copy of the sheet music cover. Other tunes were used over the years as well -- Colton on the following pages shows one by Charles Hatton although not that by Krippner; the article also includes the Parry tune that is now the standard. There was also an extremely long arrangement by Alfred Allen (Colton, p. 32).
Cavendish Boyle himself requested that Hubert Parry create a setting; this version was "widely known" by 1907. Apparently Boyle's niece, who was quite musical, urged him to seek a setting from a British composer (Colton, p. 35) -- although Colton suggests that this was not because there was anything wrong with the local tunes but because the niece was prejudiced against Newfoundlanders. Colton also observes the curious fact that Krippner held the right to set the words to music, but graciously released those rights.
The poem seems to have caught on quite quickly; note that James Murphy put it in his Newfoundland poetry collection just two years after it was offered to the public. It did not become Newfoundland's anthem until 1979, however (Colton, p. 36). - RBW
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