NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18352, 24 August 1929, Page 9

NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM

CONTROVERSY IN DUBLIN. "A SOLDIER S SONG.” Sons of the Gael, Men of the Pale, The long-watched day is breaking, The serried ranks of Innisfail Shall set the tyrant quaking. Our camp-fires now are burning low; See in the East a silvery glow, Out yonder waits the Saxon foe. So chant a soldier’s song. This is a verse of “A Soldier’s Song,” about which a sensation was caused a few weeks ago, when the GovenorGeneral of the Irish Free State, Mr. James McNeill, refused to attend the annual races of Trinity College, Dublin, because the university authorities would not play it as the national anthem instead of “God Save the King.” When .the dispute arose, President Cosgrave announced that there was no disagreement between himself and Mr. McNeill on the matter, and Mr. Blyth, vice-president of the executive council, hinted that legislation might be bought in to make the playing of the air compulsory bn certain occasions. If the King Came. Of course this Sinn Fein song, like “The Star-Spangled Banner,” is an anthem of usage, rather than law, writes the Dublin correspondent of the New York Herald-Tribune. At first the tune was played mainly at military and patriotic demonstrations, but in the last few years its adoption has become quite general. Certain groups, however, resented it as a “party” air, and regarded “God Save the King” as the proper anthem. This stand drew a good deal of popular resentment. The general view here is that if King George were to visit the Free State he would be received by “A Soldier's Song” as the hymn of a nation of which he is sovereign, and the British anthem would not be played. On the other hand, if the British premier came to Ireland in his official capacity, “God Save the King” would be played as the anthem of Great Britain, of which he is head. The fine distinction is not generally understood, and, it is believed, was not very clear to the Dublin university authorities. Some time ago, a rule was adopted by which army and police bands could appear only at functions where the Irish anthem was played, but it seems the use of the tune is now general. Memories of 1916. Heretofore “A Soldier's Song” has been attacked on musical grounds. Critics assert it was impressive and not too easily sung, also that the sentiments it expressed were entirely bellicose. Defenders of the tune replied that national anthems were born and not made, and that all the objections to the Irish lyric had already been voiced concerning “The Star-Spang-led Banner.” They pointed to the “Marseillaise” as another example of a national hymn all the more inspiring because of the events that led to its birth. “A Soldier’s Song” to the Irish mind is closely associated with the Sinn Fein revolution. It conjures pictures of the Dublin barricades during the street fighting with the British ip Easter week, 1916, when the uprising that led to the establishment of the Free State seemed a forlorn venture. The tune probably has a sentimental value no fault in composition could counterbalance. One of the Dublin newspapers did seek a new anthem on its own responsibility, and opened a competition for a suitable lyric. Among the judges was W. B. Yeats, the poet. Apparently the verses submitted were particularly uninspiring, for the adjudicators wrote that not one of them was worth the prize money, nor “any money whatever.” Some of the offerings were published, and provided the Irish capital with mild entertainment. Since then no effort of the kind has been made. The decision of the judges was hardly encouraging. Old Songs Superseded. Now that the air has been cleared there will, no doubt, be less confusion on the part of bandmasters, whose ideas of a national air have differed widely. Meetings of the old Nationalists Party during the leadership of John Redmond usually wound up with the playing of ‘ Gcd Save Ireland” to the tune of “Tramp. Tramp. Tramp, the Boys Are Marching.” “St. Patrick’s Day” and “Wearin’ of the Green” also had a prominent place, but they have been relegated to a less important position under the new di pensation. Not that there remains the slightest feeling agair- Er: ich ceremonial observances, but it is felt that the new Irish State should have the necessary badges of nationhood in addition to the legislative freedom assured by the Anglo-Irish Treaty.