Que toujours glorieux,
Louis victorieux!
Voye ses ennemis,
Toujours soumis!
Grand Dieu, sauvez le Roy!
Grand Dieu, vengez le Roy!
Vive le Roy!
The tradition is, that the composer Handel, obtained leave to copy the air and words, which he submitted to George the First as his own composition.”
The importation of the air of “God save the King,” appears undeniable, but it certainly did not come from France, neither is there anything to show that Handel passed it off as his own composition. Indeed in a court mainly composed of Germans, and before a German King, to whom the air must have been familiar from early childhood, such an attempt would have been ridiculous.
Many interesting facts bearing on these disputed questions will be found in an account of the National Anthem, entitled, “God save the King,” by Richard Clarke; London, W. Wright, Fleet Street, 1822; also in “Old National Airs,” by W. Chappell; “The Music of the Church,” by Thomas Hirst; and “An Introduction to the study of National Music,” by Carl Engel, London, 1866.