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Further research into the origins and meaning of the national anthem, \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d (henceforth AAF), is revealing some interesting facts.<\/p>\n
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The author Peter Dodds McCormick (c. 1834-1916) (his nom de plume was \u201cAmicus\u201d – so shouldn\u2019t this be \u201cnom de tune\u201d?) was a Scottish immigrant who came to Australia in 1855 and worked as a joiner \/ carpenter, then in a number of high schools in Sydney ( St. Mary\u2019s National School and Plunkett St. Public School), and was active in the Presbyterian church and choirs (as music director of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of NSW), hence his interest in writing patriotic songs for the colony of NSW and then later the Commonwealth of Australia. He may have written around 30 patriotic and Scottish songs during his life.<\/p>\n
Jim Fletcher in the NDB describes McCormick as \u201cultra-Scottish and ultra-patriotic\u201d who liked to organise massed choirs such as \u201cthe 10,000 children and 1000 teachers at the 1880 Robert Raikes Sunday school centenary demonstration, and 15,000 schoolchildren at the laying of the foundation stone of Queen Victoria\u2019s statue.\u201d ((Jim Fletcher, \u201cMcCormick, Peter Dodds (1834\u20131916)\u201d, Australian Dictionary of Biography<\/em>, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online<\/a> 30 January 2021.))<\/p>\n Graeme Skinner tells us that AAF was \u201cfirst sung at the St Andrew\u2019s Day concert of the Sydney Highland Society on 30 November 1878.\u201d McCormick later made some revisions to the words and this revised version was sung by a choir of 10,000 at the inauguration of the Commonwealth which was held in Centennial Park, in Sydney. The tune was also played by \u201cmassed bands\u201d at the naming of the Federal capital celebrations in Canberra (Fletcher). ((Graeme Skinner, \u201cMcCormick, Peter<\/a>\u201d The Dictionary of Sydney<\/em> (2008).))<\/p>\n A statue of McCormick in the grounds of The Scots Church in Margaret Street, Sydney [from the \u201cUrban Ambler<\/a>\u201d].<\/p>\n AAF only became Australia\u2019s official national anthem after a tortuous political process. A new anthem was sought by Gough Whitlam\u2019s Labour Party government in 1972 as part of its \u201cIt\u2019s Time\u201d campaign to remake Australia along more progressive lines. The Australia Council for the Arts took submissions (receiving about 1400) and recommended a short list of three to go to a referendum – Banjo Paterson\u2019s folk song \u201cWaltzing Matilda\u201d (1895), the South Australian poet Caroline Carleton\u2019s \u201cSong for Australia\u201d (1859), and McCormick\u2019s \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d (1878). A referendum was held in 1974 and AAF won with 51.4% of the vote.<\/p>\n The next government led by Malcolm Fraser of the Liberal Party was staunchly monarchist and so ditched the results of the referendum and returned to \u201cGod Save the Queen\u201d in 1976. However, opposition to this old anthem persisted and another poll was held in 1977, this time including the monarchist anthem as one of the choices, with a repetition of the result from the earlier poll. The figures were: ((Source: The Australian National Flag Association – \u201cNational Symbols – National Anthem<\/a>\u201d.))<\/p>\n 1977 poll (6,767,000):<\/p>\n Advance Australia Fair – 2 940 854 (43%) After Preferences (6,768,000):<\/p>\n Advance Australia Fair – 4 415 642 (65%) After a considerable delay the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Steven, officially proclaimed \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d as the national anthem on 19 April 1984.<\/p>\n The cultural values of the Anglo-Scottish community in Australia in the late 19thC are clearly visible in the two songs I have come across, AAF and \u201cAwake Australia\u201d (see my earlier post on this<\/a>, and have been pointed out by critics many times. These include:<\/p>\n The words to AAF have been changed many times over the decades in order to suit the changing needs of its listeners (and presumably the singers as well) to the point where it has become very politicized.<\/p>\n Firstly, by McCormick himself on the eve of Federation in 1901. For example he mentions the \u201cCommonwealth\u201d.<\/p>\n Then by the selection committee when the Labor government was looking for a replacement for \u201cGod Save the Queen\u201d. When the song was proclaimed as the \u201cnational\u201d anthem the following changes had been made to McCormick\u2019s verse:<\/p>\n The original five verses were also cut down to only two (only the 1st and 3rd verses were kept). Those verses cut were no. 2 which was very pro-conquest and Empire; no. 4 which explicitly mentioned only Brits, Scots, and Irish as settlers; and no. 5 which was bellicose and male-oriented. The complete song is as follows with the kept verses 1 and 3 in bold:<\/p>\n \nAustralians all let us rejoice, When gallant Cook from Albion sail\u2019d, Beneath our radiant Southern Cross, While other nations of the globe Shou\u2019d foreign foe e\u2019er sight our coast, The most recent change was made by the current Prime Minister, Scott Morrisson, who surreptitiously one weekend in late Dec. 2020, when everybody was on holidays or preoccupied by Christmas and New Year, changed the phrase \u201cfor we are young and free\u201d to \u201cfor we are one and free.\u201d This is problematical for several reasons. One is that Australia is definitely not \u201cone\u201d on the issue as the controversy about the words of the anthem and the date of our \u201cnational day\u201d is hotly disputed. Second, aboriginal groups rightly state that their culture is not \u201cyoung\u201d as they are descendants of one of the oldest cultures on the planet. Only the Constitution of the nation state of Australia is \u201cyoung\u201d, at least in comparison. Thirdly, as a libertarian I do not regard Australia as \u201cfree\u201d given its large welfare state, high rates taxation, massive bureaucratic regulation of our lives, and a history of high tariffs and government subsidies to privileged industries. In response to this, I have written my own version of the first verse of AAF which is included below,<\/p>\n Morrison\u2019s act also raises the following question in my mind: Is the power to unilaterally change the words of the \u201cnational\u201d anthem one of the enumerated powers of the PM under the Constitution? I think not.<\/p>\n Others have rewritten the anthem in an attempt to remove some of its more objectionable aspects. Jens Korff at \u201cCreative Spirits\u201d discusses and quotes a number of alternative versions of the anthem. ((Source: Jens Korff, \u201cNational anthem: Advanced, Aboriginal & Fair?<\/a>\u201d (1 Jan. 2021).))<\/p>\n Judith Durham (once a member of Australian pop group \u201cThe Seekers\u201d) with the help of Kutcha Edwards has written a very good substitute which I include here.<\/p>\n \nAustralia, celebrate as one, with peace and harmony. Australia, let us stand as one, upon this sacred land. Australia, let us strive as one, to work with willing hands. And when this special land of ours is in our children\u2019s care, Peter Vickery, a former Victorian Supreme Court judge and founder of \u201cRecognition in Anthem<\/a>\u201d, has written in 2019 two new verses which he has entitled \u201cOur People\u201d and \u201cOur Values\u201d. Our People goes as follows:<\/p>\n \nFor sixty thousand years and more I have even come across a parody, \u201cAdvancing Australian Fires\u201d, written by \u201cMick\u201d at the height of the bushfires in the summer of 2019\/20: ((Source: \u201cAm I Right\u201d website Advancing Australian Fires, Parody Song Lyrics of Peter Dodds McCormick, \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d<\/a>.))<\/p>\n \nAustralians why do we rejoice For monied hands across the seas With no remorse let\u2019s go all in, There have been two attempts to \u201cChristianise\u201d the song as the following examples show; The first was written by Dr Robin Lorimer Sharwood, fourth Warden of Trinity College in The University of Melbourne, and is apparently used within St Paul\u2019s Cathedral Melbourne: ((Source: David C. Leslie\u2019s article<\/a>.))<\/p>\n \nO God, who made this ancient land, Your star-bright Cross aslant our skies There is another Christian verse of unknown origin:<\/p>\n \nWith Christ our head and cornerstone, In imitation of the New Zealanders who have an English and a Maori version of their anthem \u201cGod Defend New Zealand\u201d (1876), someone in the Australian rugby fraternity wrote a verse in the Eora language which was sung at the Australia vs Argentina Tri Nations match last year. The words are as follows: ((Source: NSW Government website, \u201cAustralia Day in NSW<\/a>\u201d.))<\/p>\n \nAustraliagal ya\u2019nga yabun In order to get the meter right for the purpose of singing it to the tune of \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d the Eora words are very terse and the translation provided by the unnamed author is not very coherent or understandable to English ears.<\/p>\n \nAustralian(s) do sing It certainly leaves out the controversial parts of the English language version which in my view makes it a rewrite of the anthem not a true translation. Since the Eora language has not had any native speakers for a very long time it has had to be reconstructed by linguists from notebooks made by some of the observations made by science officers in the First Fleet (e.g. David Collins and Lt. William Dawes) . ((See the work by Jakelin Troy, The Sydney Language<\/em> (Canberra 1993).))<\/p>\n A further problem which comes to mind is the selection of only one aboriginal language for the translation. One could argue that Eora was the language of the clans which lived in the Sydney region at the time of the arrival of the First Fleet (estimated to be about 30 in number), but this became a \u201cdead\u201d language when the population was either wiped out by disease or \u201cassimilated\u201d into the broader community by the late 19thC. Why wasn\u2019t a \u201cliving\u201d aboriginal language chosen, one with perhaps the most native speakers alive today?<\/p>\n Map of Aboriginal languages in the Sydney area.<\/p>\n Since there are now so many different version to choose from, I thought I would add my own \u201clibertarian\u201d version of the national anthem to the mix.<\/p>\n \nAustralians let’s all feel remorse Further research into the origins and meaning of the national anthem, \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d (henceforth AAF), is revealing some interesting facts. The Author: Peter Dodds McCormick (c. 1834-1916) The author Peter Dodds McCormick (c. 1834-1916) (his nom de plume was \u201cAmicus\u201d – so shouldn\u2019t this be \u201cnom de tune\u201d?) was a Scottish immigrant who came … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[83,86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-libertarianism","category-musings"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203937,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions\/203937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/P-D-McCormick-statue300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Difficult Birth of a National Anthem<\/h3>\n
\nWaltzing Matilda – 1 918 206 (28%)
\nGod Save the Queen – 1 257 341 (18%)
\nSong of Australia – 652 858 (10%)<\/p>\n
\nWaltzing Matilda – 2 353 617 (35%)<\/p>\nRewriting the Contested Lyrics<\/h3>\n
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\n
\nFor we are young and free;
\nWe\u2019ve golden soil and wealth for toil,
\nOur home is girt by sea;
\nOur land abounds in Nature\u2019s gifts
\nOf beauty rich and rare;
\nIn history\u2019s page, let every stage
\nAdvance Australia fair!
\nIn joyful strains then let us sing,
\n\u201cAdvance Australia fair!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
\nTo trace wide oceans o\u2019er,
\nTrue British courage bore him on,
\nTill he landed on our shore.
\nThen here he raised Old England\u2019s flag,
\nThe standard of the brave;
\nWith all her faults we love her still,
\n\u201cBrittannia rules the wave!\u201d
\nIn joyful strains then let us sing
\n\u201cAdvance Australia fair!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWe\u2019ll toil with hearts and hands;
\nTo make this Commonwealth of ours
\nRenowned of all the lands;
\nFor those who\u2019ve come across the seas
\nWe\u2019ve boundless plains to share;
\nWith courage let us all combine
\nTo advance Australia fair.
\nIn joyful strains then let us sing
\n\u201cAdvance Australia fair!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
\nBehold us from afar,
\nWe\u2019ll rise to high renown and shine
\nLike our glorious southern star;
\nFrom England, Scotia, Erin\u2019s Isle,
\nWho come our lot to share,
\nLet all combine with heart and hand
\nTo advance Australia fair!
\nIn joyful strains then let us sing
\n\u201cAdvance Australia fair!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOr dare a foot to land,
\nWe\u2019ll rouse to arms like sires of yore
\nTo guard our native strand;
\nBrittannia then shall surely know,
\nBeyond wide ocean\u2019s roll,
\nHer sons in fair Australia\u2019s land
\nStill keep a British soul.
\nIn joyful strains the let us sing
\n\u201cAdvance Australia fair\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nOur precious water, soil and sun, grant life for you and me.
\nOur land abounds in nature\u2019s gifts to love, respect and share,
\nAnd honouring the Dreaming, advance Australia fair.
\nWith joyful hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair.<\/p>\n
\nA new day dawns, we\u2019re moving on to trust and understand.
\nCombine our ancient history and cultures everywhere,
\nTo bond together for all time, advance Australia fair.
\nWith joyful hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair.<\/p>\n
\nOur Southern Cross will guide us on, as friends with other lands.
\nWhile we embrace tomorrow\u2019s world with courage, truth and care,
\nAnd all our actions prove the words, advance Australia fair,
\nWith joyful hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair.<\/p>\n
\nFrom shore to shore forever more, advance Australia fair.
\nWith joyful hearts then let us sing, advance \u2026 Australia \u2026 fair.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nFirst peoples of this land
\nSustained by Country, Dreaming told
\nBy song and artist\u2019s hand.
\nUnite our cultures from afar
\nIn peace with those first here
\nTo walk together on this soil
\nRespect for all grows there.
\nFrom everywhere on Earth we sing, Advance Australia Fair.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nWhile we are all on fire?
\nOur leader is incompetent,
\nLet\u2019s throw him on the pyre.<\/p>\n
\nWe\u2019ve pillaged land and sky.
\nNow we will reap what we have sown –
\nWe\u2019ll watch the nation fry.<\/p>\n
\nCome strip Australia bare.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nAnd set it round with sea,
\nSustain us all who dwell herein,
\nOne people strong and free.
\nGrant we may guard its generous gifts,
\nIts beauty rich and rare.
\nIn your great name, may we proclaim,
\n`Advance, Australia fair!\u2019
\nWith thankful hearts then let us sing,
\n`Advance Australia, fair!\u2019<\/p>\n
\nGives promise sure and true
\nThat we may know this land of ours
\nA nation blessed by You.
\nMay all who come within its bounds
\nIts peace and plenty share,
\nAnd grant that we may prayerfully
\nAdvance Australia fair.
\nWith thankful hearts then let us sing,
\n`Advance, Australia fair!\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nWe\u2019ll build our nation\u2019s might;
\nWhose way and truth and light alone
\nCan guide our path aright;
\nOur lives a sacrifice of love,
\nReflect our Master\u2019s care
\nWith faces turned to heaven above
\nAdvance Australia Fair!
\nIn joyful strains then let us sing,
\nAdvance Australia Fair!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/OliviaFox-anthem450.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nEora budgeri
\nYarragal Bamal Yarrabuni
\nNgurra garrigarrang
\nNura mari guwing bayabuba
\nDiara-murrahmah-coing
\nGuwugu yago ngabay burrabagur
\nYirribana Australiagal
\nGarraburra ngayiri yabun
\nYirribana Australiagal<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nPeople Good
\nYellow Earth (ground) do not fatigue yourself
\nCountry many (a very large number) sunrise
\nThe sun setting red
\nPresently today future event tomorrow
\nThis way Australian(s)
\nTo dance bring sing
\nThis way Australian(s)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![](\"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/troy_sydney_language-map450.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nFor we were strong and free;
\nOur golden soil and wealth from toil
\nIs taxed by tyranny.
\nOur land abounds with harmful laws
\nSo we must take a vow;
\nFor history’s sake, our children’s fate,
\nLet’s free Australia now!
\nWith angry voice then let us shout,
\nLet’s free Australia now!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"