Rule Britannia
Queen Elizabeth II died 8 Sept 2022. And what we have heard played is Rule Britannia.
This song has a special association to our Colonel George Washington and Frederick County Virginia . . . . . .
Winchester was of the British Empire from 1744 when it was founded (1752 officially established name) until 1776 - thirty two years.
Frederick County VA was of the British Empire from 1738 to 1776 -- thirty eight years.
But the whole area was an undefined Virginia.
Virginia was of the British Empire from 1609 until 1776 - one hundred sixty seven years.
Most of Colonel George Washington's defensive fort network lies in the frontier old Frederick Co VA - a county named after Prince Frederick of Wales who was the next in line to be King.
Frederick was the first of English royalty along with Admiral Vernon to hear the first play production with Rule Britannia in it.
And the first time our Colonel George Washington heard it was when?
March 1757 in Philly.
They played it there.
GW had come to visit Lord Loudoun who was supreme commander of all forces in North America.
He was holding a conference to plan all the battles of 1757.
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There's a lot about that Philly conference in 1757. The Liberty Bell wasn't called the Liberty Bell yet. It rang we think for Lord Loudoun. . .
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Compiled by Jim Moyer 9/8/2022, updated 9/11/2022
Sources:
Frederick Co VA 1738
McGinley, Kevin J. "The 1757 College of Philadelphia Production of Alfred: A Masque - Some New Observations." Huntington Library Quarterly 77.1 (2014): 37-58. JSTOR. Web.
plays like Alfred: A Masque addressed contemporary political issues between America and England, which Washington saw performed in Philadelphia in 1757.
The work was initially devised as a masque in 1740 and was first performed at Cliveden, country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 1 August 1740 to commemorate the accession of George I and the birthday of the Princess Augusta.[1] Arne later revised the work turning it into an all-sung oratorio in 1745 and then an opera in 1753. It is best known for its finale "Rule, Britannia!".
Winchester VA and James Wood
