It’s a drama which seems ripe for Handel’s triumphant music. In defiance of the mandate to worship Zeus, Mattathias killed a fellow Jew who was about to offer pagan sacrifice and tore down the pagan alter. The revolt, which ultimately led to the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, was sparked by the actions of a lone Jewish priest, Mattathias. The oratorio, set to a libretto by Thomas Morell, is a three act dramatization of the Maccabean Revolt (167-160 BC), in which a Jewish army rose up against the Seleucid Empire (present day Syria). He drove them back and now we'll chase themĪnd gird your trusty might.George Frideric Handel’s 1746 oratorio, Judas Maccabaeus tells the story of Hanukkah. In 2011 Canadian folk-singer Geoff Berner recorded, 'Come All Ye Bold Canadians (Song of the War of 1812),' as part of Henry Adam Svec's recording project. Geoff Berner's 'Come All Ye Bold Canadians (Song of the War of 1812)' lyrics They brought their arms and grounded themĪnd God save the King. Īlthough unpublished, the song remained popular in Canada throughout the nineteenth century, while a comparable American song, ' The Hunters of Kentucky', lost its popularity by the end of the Jacksonian Era. In 1960, a third version was published all three varied, with different stanzas and order of stanzas. Full versions of the song were not published until 1927 when the Ontario Historical Society published two different versions of the song. Until 1907, the song was passed down in oral traditions therefore, different versions of the song came to be. Īlthough composed in late 1812, the first publication of the song was not until 1907, when the Niagara Historical Society printed part of the song in a pamphlet about Isaac Brock. The song was used to further increase the numbers of Canadian militia to fight during the war. It is believed that 'The Bold Canadian' was written by a private from the Third York Militia's First Flank Company named Cornelius Flummerfelt, who wrote the lines while marching in the Detroit campaign, or on the way back to York, Upper Canada.

4 Geoff Berner's 'Come All Ye Bold Canadians (Song of the War of 1812)' lyrics.

Arm arm ye brave lyrics