Come, Cheer Up, My Lads
‘Hearts of Oak’, sometimes called ‘Heart of Oak’, is one of the most famous naval songs in the English language. It is the official march of the Royal Navy, and many people know the tune even if they have never sung the words.
It is a bit different from most of our songs, because it was not written by sailors at all. It began life on the London stage.
The Story of the Song
The words were written by David Garrick, the great 18th-century actor and theatre manager, and the music was composed by William Boyce, who was Master of the King’s Musick. It was written for Garrick’s pantomime Harlequin’s Invasion, which was staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, around the turn of 1759 and 1760.
The song is a rousing celebration of British sailors and their ships. It begins by calling on the lads to cheer up and steer for glory, and it asks who could be freer than the ‘sons of the waves’. The chorus is the famous part, in which the ships are said to be heart of oak, the men jolly tars, and the sailors ‘always ready: steady, boys, steady’.
The Wonderful Year
The first verse mentions a ‘wonderful year’. This was 1759, which became known as the Annus Mirabilis, the year of wonders, because Britain won a string of victories in the Seven Years’ War. They included Minden, Lagos, the Plains of Abraham at Quebec, and the naval battle of Quiberon Bay in November.
Quiberon Bay was especially important, because it wrecked a French plan to invade Britain. That is why the song mentions the enemy’s flat-bottomed boats, which were the landing craft they had planned to use. The song’s message is that if the French try to land, they will find Britons waiting on the shore.
What Is the Heart of Oak?
In the age of sail, British warships were built of oak, the strong, dense timber that could take a pounding. ‘Heart of oak’ is the hard, durable wood at the centre of the tree, and the phrase also came to mean courage and toughness. Oak from the forests of southern England, including Sussex, was used to build the navy’s ships.
So when the song says that the ships and the men are heart of oak, it is a compliment to both.
Is It a Shanty?
No, and we are happy to admit it. As we explained on our main history page, a shanty is a working song. ‘Hearts of Oak’ is a patriotic stage song and a march, written for an audience rather than for a crew hauling on a rope.
It was an immediate success, though, and sailors took it up. Its tune and chorus are easy to learn, and it has been sung at sea and on shore ever since. It is also the official march of several other navies in the Commonwealth.
A Tune That Travelled
The tune was so popular that other writers borrowed it. In 1768, in the American colonies, John Dickinson wrote a protest song called ‘The Liberty Song’ to the tune of ‘Hearts of Oak’, and it was followed by loyalist parodies. This was a common way to spread a new set of words quickly, because everyone already knew the music.
“Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men…”
Why We Still Sing It
- The chorus is easy to learn, and the audience can join in.
- The tune has a proud, marching beat that suits a big group of voices.
- It carries more than 260 years of naval history in a few short verses.
- It reminds us that the sea has shaped our national story, and Selsey’s own.
It may not be a shanty, but it belongs in the same world, and it always goes down well with a crowd on the lifeboat station apron.
Come and hear it for yourself. Have a look at our Performances page to see where we will be next, and don’t forget to sing along. If you have a favourite naval song you would like us to sing, drop us an email at contact@theselseyshantymen.co.uk!