"Motherland" is the national song of the

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is n ...

. It was composed by academic J. A. George Irish and written by former acting

Governor of Montserrat The Governor of Montserrat is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of Montserrat. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The main role of the Governor ...

Sir Howard A. Fergus. "Motherland" was officially passed into law by the

Legislative Assembly of Montserrat The Legislative Assembly is the legislature of Montserrat. A unicameral body, it has nine elected members. History The Legislative Assembly was established following the promulgation of a new constitution in 2011, replacing the Legislative Counc ...

as the Territorial Song of Montserrat in 2014, after an extensive public search for a national song through open participation by Montserratians at home and abroad. J. A. George Irish and Howard A. Fergus were the first two recipients of Montserrat's historic national award of the Order of Excellence, the highest honour granted to living citizens for their distinguished careers in education and community leadership. The official rendition submitted to the government for its archives and public usage is performed by the international artist Ayanna Irish.

History

The original version of the song was written as an unofficial "nationalist anthem" titled "Oh Emerald Isle" to express a nascent cultural pride that emerged in the early 1970s as part of an educational and cultural revival in Montserrat under the leadership of the young academic, Dr. J. A. George Irish, in his role as the academic and administrative Head of the newly established local Extra-Mural Branch of the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

. The Montserrat University Center became the dynamic hub of a wide range of cultural activities involving educators and artists such as: Howard Fergus, Edith Bellot and Joy Nanton in History and/or music; Vincent B. Browne, David Edgecombe, John Stanley Weekes, Dorcas White and Anita Ince in theater and folklore; Mary Griffin and Midge Kocen in theater arts; W. "Willie Kinnie" O'Garro and Jewelline Roberts in dance; Clifford Tuitt and Carol Tuitt in costume arts; Charles Jackie Dangler, Desmond "Flasher" Daley and "Out-of-port" Aymer in steelpan music; Samuel "Black Sam" Aymer, Donald Douglas, George Allen, George Harper, Joseph Jackman, Reginald Ryan, James Frederick, Eric Fergus and his parents Steamer and Molly Fergus and John White in folk music. This cultural renaissance was centred on the Emerald Community Singers, Montserrat Theater Group, Alliouagana Dancers, Alliouagana Drummers, Alliouagana Arts Festival, the regional Carifesta movement,

Montserrat Secondary School The Montserrat Secondary School, often referred to for short as MSS, is the only pre-16 years of age secondary school on the island of Montserrat. The school's campus is currently located in Salem. Prior to 2004 it was responsible for Montserrat ...

Choir, local church choirs, Heavenly Organs Steel Orchestra, and other local folk groups.

Lyrics

song edited by Dominick Archer

References

External links

Sheet Music for "Motherland"Gov.msCaribjournal.comNationalsongofmontserrat.com
{{Authority control North American anthems Montserratian music