"Sarnia Cherie" () is used as the unofficial
anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...
of
Guernsey
Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
, one of the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. ''Sarnia'' is a traditional
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
name for the island.
George Deighton wrote "Sarnia Cherie" in 1911, with Domenico Santangelo composing the tune later the same year.
The anthem can be heard on a number of occasions each year, such as every 9 May
Liberation Day
Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...
,
at
Island Games gold medal ceremonies,
the annual ''
Viaër Marchi'' community festival in July, and inter-island sporting events.
History
The song was written in 1911 by George Deighton (1869–1935
), who had arrived on the island in 1908 to manage the St. Julian's Theatre. Having liked the island so much, he wrote a poem three years later, which he then asked Domenico Santangelo (1882–1970
) to write music for.
Santangelo composed a romantic waltz for the lyrics the same year.
It was first performed at St. Julian's Theatre (which later became Gaumont Cinema
and then an office complex
) at a benefit night in November 1911 by Wilfred Shirvell, a local hotelier and friend of Deighton.
Santiangelo then had the song published by a French music publisher of his acquaintance
Fermo Dante Marchetti.
During the
Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands in World War II, the song gained even greater recognition as a local anthem,
and it was sung in the later years of the occupation and as British troops
liberated the island on 9 May 1945,
including by groups of Guernsey evacuees all over the UK, as far as Glasgow.
The song remains heavily associated with the wartime experience in Guernsey.
In 2005, the then
Chief Minister of Guernsey,
Laurie Morgan, called for an updated version of the song, which was abandoned after it met with near-universal opposition.
On 30 June 2009, a CD of 13 renditions of the song was released after an effort spearheaded by local campaigner Roy Sarre, who stated that "it wasn't easy getting copies of Sarnia Cherie".
The renditions included an 85-voice choir rendition by the Island Churches Guernsey Festival Chorus, a harmonica rendition by former tomato grower John Bourgaize
and a recording from 9 May 1945, when British troops landed in
St. Peter Port to liberate the island after five years of German occupation during World War II. The sheet music was also rearranged by Ray Lowe of
Sark
Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...
, owner of the copyright of the music, which he released in September the same year.
In 2012, a
Guernésiais
Guernésiais (), also known as Guerneseyese, ''Dgèrnésiais'', Guernsey French, and Guernsey Norman French, is the variety of the Norman language spoken in Guernsey. It is sometimes known on the island simply as "patois". As one of the langues d ...
version of the song was written by Hazel Tomlinson, a member of the Guernésiais-speaking song and dance group (), which was compiled into a CD of the same name of Guernésiais folk songs with English translations.
Lyrics
In popular culture
"Sarnia Cherie" was author
G. B. Edwards's title for his novel ''
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
''The Book of Ebenezer Le Page'' is a novel by Guernsey born writer Gerald Basil Edwards first published in the United Kingdom by Hamish Hamilton in 1981, and in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf in the same year. It has since been published ...
'' on the original typescript he gave to his biographer and future publisher of the book
Edward Chaney in 1974, but publishing house
Hamish Hamilton
Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''Jame ...
decided to use his subtitle when they published it in 1981, choosing, however, to add Deighton's song as an epigraph instead.
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
''The Book of Ebenezer Le Page'' is a novel by Guernsey born writer Gerald Basil Edwards first published in the United Kingdom by Hamish Hamilton in 1981, and in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf in the same year. It has since been published ...
See also
*
List of British anthems
References
External links
Sarnia Cherie page with midi
'Updated' Island Games 2003 version by Jim Delbridge and Tim Bran (mp3)Sarnia Chérie (Guernsey anthem) - Sung on Liberation Day in 1945
{{Nationalanthemsofeurope , state=collapsed
National symbols of Guernsey
National anthems
Regional songs
1911 songs
British anthems