This magnificent song
has long been popular in England. It was
sung by Adelina Patti[1],
and Madame Albani, and later by Melba and other famous singers.
There’s a land, a dear land,
where the rights of the free,
Though firm as the earth are
wide as the sea;
Where the primroses bloom, and
the nightingales sing,
And the honest poor man is as
good as a king.
Show’ry, flow’ry! Cheerful, tearful!
England, wave-guarded, and
green, to the shore!
West land! Best land!
Thy land; My land!
Glory be with her and peace
evermore.
There’s a land, a dear land,
where our vigor of soul
Is fed by the tempests that
blow from the pole;
Where the people love peace,
but at sound of the drum,
A myriad of soldiers and
heroes become.
Sea-land! Free-land!
Fairest! Rarest!
Home of the brave men and the
maids they adore.
Fearless! Peerless!
Thy land! My land!
Glory be with her and peace
evermore.
- Charles Mackay[2]
[1] Adelina Juana Maria Patti
was born to a Sicilian father and Italian mother in 1843 in Madrid. She was the
fourth of six children and the family was relatively poor. Her parents were
both involved in opera and they moved to New York in 1847, where there were
better employment opportunities for a show business family. She made her first appearance on the stage at the age of
seven. In 1859, at the age of sixteen, she made her operatic debut as
Donizetti’s Lucia and her vocal range, bell-like clarity and professionalism
won her critical acclaim. She was soon being offered leading soprano roles. The
large Italian community in American cities helped to elevate her to star status
in just a few short years.
She toured as far as Leningrad and Buenos Aires but continued to make Europe her base, marrying the Marquis de Caux, Equerry to Napoleon the third of France in 1868. In the same year she sang at Rossini’s funeral in Paris. Ten years later she bought Craig-y-Nos, a large early Victorian house and surrounding park beside the river Tawe near Abercrave in South Wales. There she took up residence, not with her husband, but with the tenor Ernesto Nicolini with whom she had been touring. In 1886 she obtained her divorce and married Ernesto. By the 1890s Adelina Patti was one of the most famous women in the world and certainly one of the highest paid. She was one of the first “international superstars.” (Source: opera-singer.co.uk)
[2] Charles Mackay, the son of a navy lieutenant, was
born in Scotland in 1814. His mother died when he was young and so he was
brought up by foster parents. At the age of sixteen he was employed as the
private secretary to William Cockerill, an ironmaster based in Belgium. In his
spare-time he wrote articles for the local newspaper.
Mackay returned to Britain in 1832 and for the next three years contributed to several newspapers. In 1835 he obtained his first permanent post in journalism when he was appointed as an assistant to George Hogarth, the sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle. Other journalists working for the newspaper at the time included Charles Dickens and William Hazlitt. Mackay eventually was promoted to the post of assistant editor.
In 1844 Mackay left the Morning Chronicle and became editor of the Glasgow Argus. While in Scotland he also contributed articles and poetry to the Daily News, a newspaper established by Charles Dickens in 1846. After four years in Glasgow, Mackay returned to London and joined the staff of the London Illustrated News, the successful journal owned by Herbert Ingram.
In 1849 Henry Mayhew suggested to John Douglas Cook, the editor of the Morning Chronicle, that the newspaper should carry out an investigation into the condition of the labouring classes in England and Wales. Cook agreed and recruited Mackay, Angus Reach and Shirley Brooks to help Mayhew collect the material. Mackay was given the task of surveying the situation in Liverpool and Birmingham.
Mackay’s poetry was not collected together until the title Voices from the Crowd. Some of his poems were set to music by his friend Henry Russell. These were very successful and one songsheet, The Good Time Coming, sold over 400,000 copies. Mackay published his two volume autobiography, Forty Years Recollections and Through the Long Day two years before his death in 1889. (Source: Spartacus Educational - spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)
Mackay returned to Britain in 1832 and for the next three years contributed to several newspapers. In 1835 he obtained his first permanent post in journalism when he was appointed as an assistant to George Hogarth, the sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle. Other journalists working for the newspaper at the time included Charles Dickens and William Hazlitt. Mackay eventually was promoted to the post of assistant editor.
In 1844 Mackay left the Morning Chronicle and became editor of the Glasgow Argus. While in Scotland he also contributed articles and poetry to the Daily News, a newspaper established by Charles Dickens in 1846. After four years in Glasgow, Mackay returned to London and joined the staff of the London Illustrated News, the successful journal owned by Herbert Ingram.
In 1849 Henry Mayhew suggested to John Douglas Cook, the editor of the Morning Chronicle, that the newspaper should carry out an investigation into the condition of the labouring classes in England and Wales. Cook agreed and recruited Mackay, Angus Reach and Shirley Brooks to help Mayhew collect the material. Mackay was given the task of surveying the situation in Liverpool and Birmingham.
Mackay’s poetry was not collected together until the title Voices from the Crowd. Some of his poems were set to music by his friend Henry Russell. These were very successful and one songsheet, The Good Time Coming, sold over 400,000 copies. Mackay published his two volume autobiography, Forty Years Recollections and Through the Long Day two years before his death in 1889. (Source: Spartacus Educational - spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)
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