The Maple Leaf Forever: It blew down July 20th.

In the fifties we were taught "The Maple Leaf Forever" as an alternate anthem.  There was an actual tree that inspired the poem and it blew down three weeks ago in Toronto. (Picture)

How bad is the song?  Canadians are Brits is the first message.  They beat the Yanks at Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane in 1812.  (Both solitudes can cheer for that one.)  But then "Wolfe the Dauntless Hero Came" and captured Quebec in 1759.  One of Wolfe's nicknames was "The Conqueror of Quebec" and another, curiously, was "The Conqueror of Canada".  (This is hard slop for true laine Québecois to swallow).

Not suitable for bilingual consumption but you know what?  The tune is great unlike the stodgy meter of "O Canada".   In fact some words for "O Canada" are a little stodgy too.  But it's what we've got and I'll stand up for it.

Lundy's Lane was no walk in the park and although the Americans withdrew, the British had a rough time of it.