National Hymus. The origin of the English national anthem has been a subject of controversy since the end of the 18th century, and is still involved in obscurity. 'God save the King' was first printed in the Harmonia Anglicana of 1742, without name of author or composer, varying slightly from the present version; and in 1745, during the Scottish rebellion, it became widely known, versions of it being sung nightly at Drury Lane and Covent Garden Theatres with great applause. Of the numerous claims to its parentage, the view supported by most, and by several eminent writers, attributes it, both words and music, to Henry Carey (q.v.), the popular song-writer, about 1740. The evidence for this is given in Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time, and Chrysander's Jahrbücher, vol. i. But Mr W. H. Cummings, who thoroughly beat out the subject in a series of papers in the Musical Times in 1878, entitled to the greatest weight, considers this evidence unreliable; and he arrives at the conclusion that the music has been adopted (but when, and by whom, we shall probably never know) from an 'Ayre' by Dr John Bull (q.v.), found (without words) in a collection of music by him once in the hands of Dr Kitchener, afterwards of Richard Clark, the original of which seems to have disappeared. See also a paper by Major Crawford in the Dictionary of Hymnology (1891), by the Rev. John Julian.
The hymn was translated into German by Heinrich Harries, a Holstein clergyman, and sung to the original air at a birthday celebration in honour of the king of Denmark in 1790; and an adaptation from these words, made in 1793 by Dr B. G. Schumacher, beginning 'Heil dir im Siegerkranz,' has ever since been in use as the Prussian national hymn. It called forth the admiration of Beethoven and Haydn, and moved the latter to compose the Austrian national hymn, which was first sung on the Emperor Franz's birthday in 1797. The words now used, beginning, 'Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser,' are by Baron Zedlitz; the original words were by Hanschka. The Hungarians have two national hymns—the Szózat ('The Appeal'), beginning, 'Be true to the land of thy birth,' written by Vörösmarty (1800-55), the creator of Hungarian poetry of the Romantic school, and composed by Benjamin Egressy, an actor and eminent composer of sacred music; and the Magyar Hymnusz, written by Kősegy and composed by Francis Erkel. The Rákóczy march, by an unknown composer, dates from the end of the 17th century. The simple and dignified Russian national anthem dates from 1830, and is the work of General Alexis Lwoff (1799-1870). Of the Danish national hymn, 'Kong Christian,' the words are by Ewald and the music by Johann Ernst Hartmann (1726-91). There are several claims to the honour of being the Norwegian national hymn, of which may be mentioned 'Sønner af Norge,' written about the beginning of the 19th century, music by C. Blom; and the modern 'Ja, vi elsker dette Landet' (Yes, we love this land), words by Björnson, music by R. Nordraak. The Swedish hymn, 'King Karl, the young hero,' was written by Esaias Tegner (1782-1846). The Dutch national hymn, 'Wien Neerlandisch Bloed,' was written by Heurik Tollens (1780-1856), and composed by J. W. Wilms. 'La Brabançonne,' the Belgian revolutionary song of 1830, was written by Jenneval, a Brussels actor, and composed by Campenhout. The 'Marseillaise' (q.v.) of the French was written and composed in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1760-1836), and received its name from being sung by the volunteers from Marseilles who took part in the movements in Paris in that year. Various doubts have been thrown on De Lisle's authorship of the tune, but these were finally disposed of by a pamphlet written by his nephew in 1865. The Portuguese 'Hymno constitucional' was composed by Dom Pedro I., emperor of Brazil. Though scarcely to be classi- fied as a hymn, 'Yankee Doodle' is the American air, notwithstanding the more recent rival claims of 'Hail Columbia' and 'The Star-spangled Banner,' neither of which have high intrinsic merit or have taken any great popular hold. More like a hymn is the song 'America,' which is sung to the tune of 'God save the King.' The origin of 'Yankee Doodle' is as obscure and disputed a point as that of 'God save the King.' The most probable account ascribes to the tune an English origin, and the words to Dr Schuckburgh, an army surgeon, about 1755, soon after which, during the American revolution, it came extensively into vogue. It was first printed in Arnold's opera, Two to One, in 1784.