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2 unusual facts about Robert Stanley Weir


Robert Stanley Weir

The French version had originally been commissioned in 1880 by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, Théodore Robitaille with lyrics by Sir Adolphe Basile Routhier and music composed by Calixa Lavallée in time for the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français which was to be held on St. Jean Baptiste Day of that year.

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).


William Alexander Weir

His brother, Robert Stanley Weir, would become famous as a judge and author of the English verses for O Canada.


see also