Details

Title

'Island Hymn' words and music, 1908 printing

Author

Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud), 1874-1942.
Watson, Lawrence W.

Collection

L.M. Montgomery Institute. Ryrie-Campbell Collection.

Donor

Donated by Donna Jane Campbell.

Call Number(s)

931 SI Island Hymn

Abstract

Printed sheet showing the music and words of the 'Island Hymn' -- "Words by Miss L.M. Montgomery[,] Music by Lawrence W. Watson, M.A.". The hymn was an initiative of Charlottetown music educator Professor Harry Watts, who in early 1908 decided that P.E.I. needed a patriotic song to call its own: at the suggestion of a local Presbyterian clergyman, Watts invited L.M. Montgomery -- not yet famous for 'Anne of Green Gables,' but enjoying a local reputation for her short stories and poetry -- to pen some suitable verse. Montgomery evidently met the request quickly, and Watts then arranged for Charlottetown church organist Lawrence W. Watson to set her three stanzas to music: Watson named the resulting tune "Insula beata" (Latin for "blessed" or "happy" island). Watts promoted the "Island Hymn" vigorously, especially to P.E.I. schools, and this printing was evidently part of that effort: 'The Guardian' (Charlottetown) reported on May 9, 1908 that the Provincial Government was arranging for the words and music to be printed for distribution to all Island schools, with plans to perform it at the late June school closing exercises. The sheet includes the note that "only a limited number of copies of this are printed," and few surviving copies of this printing are known today. The printed sheet includes a statement that it is "published by permission of Author and composer," but assigns copyright as follows: "Copyright, Canada, 1908, by L.W. Watson". Watson, however, never enjoyed any measure of the fame and success realized by L.M. Montgomery, and the enduring popularity of 'The 'Island Hymn' over the years is now firmly established as part of the Montgomery legacy. The Island Hymn was officially designated as Prince Edward Island's Provincial Anthem in May, 2010.