Peace to the Souls of the Heroes

John Wall Callcott (1766-1821)

Glee; words from Fingal by "Ossian"

John Wall Callcott’s glee, ‘Peace to the Souls of the Heroes’ was based on the popular work Fingal by author James Macpherson, who claimed that it was a translation of the work of an ancient Gaelic poet, Ossian. Callcott composed numerous glees (convivial part-songs, often sung entirely unaccompanied by instruments) during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was performed by Mr. Clarke, John Edwards, Thomas Kavanagh, and George Sippe at the first Sydney amateur concert.

Lyrics

Peace to the souls of the heroes!

their deeds were great in fight.

Let them ride around me on clouds,

let them show their features of war.

My soul that shall be firm in danger,

and mine arm like the thunder of heav’n!

But be thou on a moonbeam, O Morna!

near the window of my rest,

when my thoughts are of peace,

when the din of arms is past.

Score from The Professional Collection of Glees for Three, four and five Voices composed by the following authors, Calcott, Cooke, Danby, Hindle, Stevens & Webbe (London: Longman & Broderip, 1791).

Peace to the Souls of the Heroes - Recreation

Performed by Amanda Harris, Lachlan Massey and Jack Stephens at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in May 2021. For more on this concert, visit our Reimagined Performances page.