Name Alexander Muir Role Songwriter | Education Queen's University | |
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Born 5 April 1830 ( 1830-04-05 ) Lesmahagow, Scotland, United Kingdom Occupation songwriter, poet, school headmaster Died June 26, 1906, Toronto, Canada | ||
Alexander Muir (5 April 1830 – 26 June 1906) was a Canadian songwriter, poet, soldier, and school headmaster. He was the composer of The Maple Leaf Forever, which he wrote in October 1867 to celebrate the Confederation of Canada.
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Early life
Muir immigrated to Toronto, Ontario from Lesmahagow, Scotland, in 1833, where he grew up and he was educated by his father. Muir later studied at Queen's College, where he graduated in 1851.
Career
Muir taught in the Greater Toronto Area in such places as Scarborough and Toronto, as well as in Newmarket, Beaverton, and in then suburban areas as Parkdale and Leslieville, where he lived on Laing Avenue.
During the early 1870s, Alexander Muir was an elementary school teacher in Newmarket. When the cornerstone of the Christian Church in Newmarket was being laid on June 25, 1874 by the Governor General, Lord Dufferin, Muir brought his school choir to the event to sing his new composition The Maple Leaf Forever, its first public performance.
From 1860 to 1870, he was principal of Leslieville School in Toronto. He was later (1888-1901) principal of Toronto's Alexander Muir/Gladstone Junior and Senior Public School (renamed after his death in his honour).
Muir was a noted Canadian Orangeman. He also served with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, and fought with them at the Battle of Ridgeway. He wrote The Maple Leaf Forever while he was serving with the regiment.