[E. Bayley, Printer.] Printed handbill of three verses of the British National Anthem, under the title 'The Patriot's Hymn', beginning 'GOD save Great George our King'

Author: 
E. Bayley, Printer (of Macclesfield, Cheshire?) [The British National Anthem]
Publication details: 
Printer's slug: 'E. BAYLEY, PRINTER.' Place not stated (Macclesfield, Cheshire?). Undated [during the Regency period].
£180.00
SKU: 13912

1p., 12mo. On aged and worn wove paper. Headed with the royal crest and title 'The Patriot's Hymn.' Twenty-one lines arranged in three verses, numbered I to III. Printer's slug beneath swelled short rule at foot of page. The printer is possibly the Edward Bayley stated by BBTI to have been active in Macclesfield between 1788 and 1825. The absence of the long s, and the use of wove paper, suggest nineteenth-century publication before 1830, and probably during the Regency period. While COPAC yields no entry for the title 'The Patriot's Hymn', the text displays no differences from the present-day version: 'I. GOD save Great George the King, | Long live our noble King, | God save the King: | Send him victorious, | Happy and glorious, | Long to reign over us, | God save the King. | II. | O Lord, our God, arise, | Scatter his Enemies, | And make them fall: | Confound their Politics, | Frustrate their knavish Tricks, | On thee our Hopes we fix, | God save us all. | III. | Thy choicest Gifts in Store, | On him be pleased to pour, | Long may he reign: | May he defend our Laws, | And ever give us Cause, | To sing with Heart and Voice, | God save the King.'