The Maple Leaf Forever

In Days of yore,
From Britain's shore
Wolfe the dauntless hero came
And planted firm Britannia's flag
On Canada's fair domain.
Here may it wave,
Our boast, our pride
And joined in love together,
The thistle, shamrock, rose entwined,
The Maple Leaf Forever.

{Chorus}
The Maple Leaf
Our Emblem Dear,
The Maple Leaf Forever.
God save our Queen and Heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf Forever.

At Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane
Our brave fathers side by side
For freedom's home and loved ones dear,
Firmly stood and nobly died.
And so their rights which they maintained,
We swear to yield them never.
Our watchword ever more shall be
The Maple Leaf Forever

{Chorus}
Our fair Dominion now extends
From Cape Race to Nootka Sound
May peace forever be our lot
And plenty a store abound
And may those ties of love be ours
Which discord cannot sever
And flourish green for freedom's home
The Maple Leaf Forever

On merry England's far-famed land
My kind Heaven sweetly smile
God bless Old Scotland evermore
And Ireland's Emerald Isle
Then swell the song, both loud and long
Till rocks and forest quiver
God save our Queen and Heaven Bless
The Maple Leaf Forever

~By Alexander Muir, 1867, Original Lyrics~

Ever since Conn Smythe first purchased the Toronto St. Pats and renamed them the Maple Leafs, Muir's "Maple Leaf Forever" has closely been associated with the hockey team. It has become a timed-honoured tradition on each opening night of a new season that it be played by the 48th Highlanders during pre-game ceremonies.

The following editorial ran in The Globe following the Leafs Stanley Cup win in 1932. It was their first season in Maple Leaf Gardens.

The Globe - April 11, 1932.

THE MAPLE LEAF FOREVER

 The capture by the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Stanley Cup, emblematic of the professional ice-hockey championship, will send a reassuring thrill, not only through Toronto, but throughout all Canada. The centre of the hockey-playing population has been shifting southward so swiftly in recent years that there has been some wonder as to whether or not hockey pre-eminence would remain long in Canada. The laurels are in safe hands another year. Canada is first.

The Maple Leaf forever.