- Robert Stanley Weir
Infobox Person
name = Robert Stanley Weir
caption = Robert Stanley Weir c.1899
birth_date = birth date|1856|11|15|mf=y
birth_place = Hamilton,Canada West
death_date = death date and age|1926|8|20|1856|11|15|mf=y
death_place =Lac Memphrémagog ,Quebec ,Canada Robert Stanley Weir, , (
November 15 ,1856 –August 20 ,1926 ) was aMontreal ,Quebec judge and poet most famous for writing the English lyrics to "O Canada ", thenational anthem ofCanada . He was educated as a teacher and lawyer and considered one of the leading experts of the day on Quebec's municipal civil law. He was appointed a municipal court judge and a judge for the Exchequer Court of Canada.Weir published several individual poems in magazines and collections in books. His lyrics for the English version of "O Canada" eclipsed many others' lyrical attempts and songs to quickly become the most popular patriotic song in Canada for the past century.
Early history
Robert Stanley Weir was born in Hamilton,cite book|title=Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol II, 1876-1924)|first=Thomas Melville |last=Bailey|publisher=W.L. Griffin Ltd|year=1991]
Canada West , the son of William Park Weir and Helen Craig Smith, who had emigrated fromScotland to Canada in 1852. Weir moved to Montreal,Quebec with his family as an infant, where his father became a Surveyor ofCustoms in the Port ofMontreal . His brother,William Alexander Weir , was born there and would later become aCabinet Minister in theLegislative Assembly of Quebec .Weir studied at McGill Normal School, Montreal, and at the age of 19, was appointed principal of Sherbrooke Street School, one of the newest and largest Montreal
public school s at the time. He continued his studies atMcGill University earning hisBachelor of Civil Law in 1880 and aDoctor of Civil Law in 1897. He was called to the bar in 1881.In 1882, he married Margaret Alexander Douglas, daughter of wealthy Montreal businessman Alexander Douglas. They had two children, a son, Douglas Weir, and daughter Marjorie Douglas Weir. Margaret would become known for her role in a movement to provide children's playgrounds in Montreal. The family divided their time between Montreal and a summer home named Cedarhurst, in Cedarville, a picturesque hamlet on the east shore of
Lac Memphrémagog in theEastern Townships of Quebec.Career
From 1881, Weir practised law in Montreal and took a particular interest in municipal questions and had several of his studies published. In 1892, he ran unsuccessfully as a Liberal for the Montreal No. 4 riding of the
Legislative Assembly of Quebec . In 1898, he was one of several eminentadvocate s appointed to revise the charter of the City of Montreal. It is believed that, in particular, he wrote many of the sections relating to expropriations and the power of the city to pass by-laws.On
May 6 ,1899 , he was appointed Recorder for Montreal. During this time as a recorder, he also taught liturgics andjurisprudence in the Congregational College of Canada, which was affiliated with McGill University. Weir later served as a municipal court judge and was considered an expert on the historical aspects of municipal law. Lastly, he was appointed a judge for the Exchequer Court of Canada. In 1923, he was honoured as a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada .O Canada
In 1908, Weir wrote English lyrics for "O Canada" while at his summer home, Cedarhurst, in time to honour the 300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.
The French version had originally been commissioned in 1880 by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec,
Théodore Robitaille with lyrics by SirAdolphe Basile Routhier and music composed byCalixa Lavallée in time for the "Congrès national des Canadiens-Français" which was to be held on St. Jean Baptiste Day of that year. The popularity of the song grew quickly in Quebec and was played frequently at special events in the province.The first evidence of "O Canada" being sung in
English Canada was when school children sang it for the 1901 tour of Canada by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (later King George V and Queen Mary). Various translations of the French lyrics were attempted over the next few years but none were well-received until Weir's version. It gained acceptance quickly enough that it became the most popular patriotic song for Canadians byWorld War I , winning out over "The Maple Leaf Forever " and other less well-known alternatives. Weir amended the lyrics slightly in 1913, 1914 and 1916.
This Weir's version would eventually become the unofficial Canadian Anthem sung inEnglish Canada at sporting events and by Canadian schoolchildren until 1980:
O Canada version by Robert Stanley Weir for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927.
O Canada!
Our home and native land.
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
And stand on guard, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, Glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!Death and legacy
Judge Robert Stanley Weir died on
August 20 ,1926 atLac Memphrémagog , Quebec, Canada.Weir's verses of "O Canada" were published in an official form for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927, and gradually became the most generally accepted anthem in English-speaking Canada, completely winning out over the alternatives by the 1960s.
In seeking to enact "O Canada" as the national anthem officially, a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons was struck. In 1968, the committee recommended changes to the English version – replacing one of the repeated phrases "We stand on guard for thee" with "From far and wide" and one "O Canada" with "God keep our land".
The committee also thought it appropriate for the government to acquire
copyright to the words and music. Canadian copyright laws held for 50 years beyond the author's death so there was no trouble with the copyright for the music but the heirs of Weir objected to the changes to the words. Since Weir died in 1926, it would not be in thepublic domain until 1976. Evidence was found that the copyright had actually descended to Gordon V. Thompson, a music publisher, who agreed to sell it to the government in 1970 for the nominal sum of $1. The committee, however, still hoped to settle the matter amicably with Weir's family, if at all possible.Finally, on
July 1 ,1980 , 100 years after Routhier and Lavallée penned the hymn, the "National Anthem Act" officially proclaimed the French and modified English versions as the National Anthem of Canada. Today, "God Save the Queen " is Canada'sroyal anthem , while "The Maple Leaf Forever" is rarely heard.Two provinces have adopted
Latin translations of phrases from the English lyrics as their mottos: Manitoba —"Gloriosus et liber" (glorious and free)— and Alberta —"Fortis et liber" (strong and free). Similarly, the motto ofCanadian Forces Land Force Command is "Vigilamus pro te" (we stand on guard for thee).A postage stamp was issued in honour of Weir, Lavallée, and Routhier on
June 6 ,1980 and onMay 24 ,1999 , a monument for Judge Weir was erected in Weir Memorial Park, on the shores of Lac Memphrémagog, near where he wrote the famous lyrics.In recent years, the English version of the anthem has been criticized, by
feminist s such as SenatorVivienne Poy , for being sexist ("true patriot love in all thy "sons" command"); alternate lyrics ("in all of us command") have been proposed but are not widely supported.Works
*Bills of Exchange Act 1890
*Education Act
*Civil Code
*Code of Civil Procedure
*Municipal CodePublished works
*Robert Stanley Weir (1889). "Review of D.J. Macdonnell's sermon entitled Death abolished: Preached in St. Andrew's church, Toronto, Sunday, 3rd March, 1889". [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00088QRTM]
*Robert Stanley Weir (1890). "An insolvency manual containing the articles of the Code of civil procedure relating to abandonment of property, capias ad respondendum, attachments b ...". Montreal?:A. Periard. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0006CGRNG/]
*Robert Stanley Weir (1897). "The administration of the old régime in Canada". Montreal?:L.E. & A.F. Waters. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00069XH50/]
*Robert Stanley Weir. "Municipal institutions in the province of Quebec, (University of Toronto studies)". [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00088IF3S/]
*Robert Stanley Weir. "Gone West". [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0008BH702/]
*Judge Robert Stanley Weir (1908). "O Canada". Delmar Music Co.
*Judge Robert Stanley Weir (1917). "After Ypres and other verses". Toronto: Musson Books.
*Judge Robert Stanley Weir (1922). "Poems, Early And Late". Toronto: Oxford University Press.Notes
References
*Patty Brown. [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qcmtl-w/Schools.html Montreal English Schools 1816-1998] . Retrieved June 20, 2005.
*Ministry of Canadian Heritage (2004). [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/anthem_e.cfm#a5 Ministry of Canadian Heritage] . Retrieved June 20, 2005.
*Gilles Potvin and Helmut Kallmann. [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0002611 The Canadian Encyclopedia: O Canada] . Retrieved June 20, 2005.
*Unicover Corporation (2005). cite web |url=http://www.unicover.com/EA4NBUB5.htm |title= Unicover First Day Covers |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20031116120258/http://www.unicover.com/EA4NBUB5.htm |archivedate=2003-11-16. Retrieved June 20, 2005.
*Comments of David Price published inParliament of Canada (1999). [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?pub=hansard&mee=230&parl=36&ses=1&language=E&x=1#T1410 Hansard] . Retrieved June 20, 2005.
*Matthew Farfan (2002). [http://www.townshipsheritage.com/Eng/Articles/General/canada.html "O Canada": Our Native Townships Song] . Retrieved June 20, 2005.
*National Assembly of Quebec (2003). [http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/patrimoine/resultatselec/m2.html#mtl4 Quebec Electoral results: Montreal No. 4, 1892] in French. Retrieved June 20, 2005.
*J. Cleophas Lamothe, Avocat & La Violette et Masse, Editors (1903). "Histoire de la Corporation de la Cité de Montréal". Montreal: Montreal Printing and Publishing. Retrieved June 20, 2005 from [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qcmtl-w/WeirRobtStan.htm Notable Montrealers: Robert Stanley Weir] .
*Henry James Morgan, Editor (1912). "Canadian Men & Women of the Time 1912". Toronto: William Briggs. Retrieved June 20, 2005 from [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qcmtl-w/WeirRobtStan.htm Notable Montrealers: Robert Stanley Weir] .
*Eugenia Powers (1993). " [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1319/is_n2_v28/ai_14482021 O Canada: shan't be chant - original French-Canadian national anthem] ". "Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada", 28 (2).
*Speech of Vivienne Poy (2001). "Debates of the Senate (Hansard)", 1st Session, 37th Parliament, Vol. 139. Retrieved June 20, 2005 from [http://www.sen.parl.gc.ca/vpoy/english/Special_Interests/speeches/Inquiry%20National%20Anthem.htm Inquiry on the National Anthem] .ee also
*
O Canada
*Calixa Lavallée
*Adolphe-Basile Routhier
*William Alexander Weir External links
* Ministry of Canadian Heritage [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/anthem_e.cfm National Anthem]
* Lavallee, Calixa; Weir, R. Stanley; and Grant-Schaefer, G. A. (1914). [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100006817/default.html O Canada!] . Montreal: Delmar Music Co. (archived atLibrary of Congress )
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