Britannia Archive

When Britain first, at heaven’s command, Arose from out of the azure main, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain: “Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves.” James Thomson, Alfred: a Masque, II, V. Favorite0

What two ideas are more inseparable than beer and Britannia? Sydney Smith (1771-1845), English clergyman, writer. Quoted in: Hesketh Pearson, The Smith of Smiths, ch. 1 1 (1934). Favorite0