A march song from 1913
Words by Frank Dupree
Music by Chas Ashley
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- When wooden walls and straining sails
Bore Britain’s flag afar
The Nation prospered well in peace
And feared no foe in war
For Britain’s might was everywhere
And ruled the endless waves
Proclaiming to the world at large
“We never shall be slaves”
Chorus
Britannia must rule the air
As still she rules the sea
To guard this realm beyond compare
And keep her people free
Britannia, Britannia
Must like the eagle be
Britannia, Britannia
Must rule both air and sea
- And when the ironclad replaced the ships
That caught the breeze
Britannia still retained her throne
Upon the charted seas
For frowning fleets and giant guns
Outnumbered two to one
The navies of all other lands
Beneath the sovereign sun - And now that every cloud conceals
A lurking bird of prey
Which threatens our supremacy
In peace and war today
Britannia must be equal to
The peril and prepare
To hold our Empire sacred
From these dreadnaughts of the air
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: