Beloved Isle Cayman

"Beloved Isle Cayman" is the official national song of the Cayman Islands, composed by Leila Ross-Shier in 1930. It became the official national song when the Cayman Islands Coat of Arms, Flag and National Song Law was passed in 1993. As a British Overseas Territory, the official national anthem is "God Save the King".<ref name="gov">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The song was written and set to music in 1930 by Caymanian teacher and church organist Leila Ross-Shier, whose melody and pastoral imagery rapidly gained affection throughout the islands.<ref name="Levy 2016"/> For more than six decades it functioned informally at public gatherings and school assemblies, symbolising local identity while the British anthem "God Save the King" remained the formal anthem of state.<ref name="Levy 2016"/> Formal recognition arrived in 1993, when the legislative assembly passed the original Coat of Arms, Flag and National Song Law; section 3 of the current 2005 revision defines the "National Song" as "Beloved Isle Cayman" and authorises the Governor in Cabinet to issue guidelines on occasions when it should be sung.<ref name="Coat of Arms 2005"/>

Ross-Shier (1886–1968) was a prominent cultural figure whose career spanned education, librarianship and civic administration; she also organised concerts, served as a Presbyterian organist and championed women's suffrage in the territory.<ref name="Gallego 2023"/> Her authorship of the national song earned early public acknowledgement with a Certificate of Honour in 1965, and retrospective accolades continued after her death, including a Spirit of Excellence award in 2009 and her proclamation as the Cayman Islands' tenth National Hero in 2021.<ref name="Gallego 2023"/> Her influence became evident in November 2023 when the Cayman Islands National Museum opened the exhibition "I Cannot Thee Forget: Ms Leila Ross-Shier", named after a line in the song's chorus and featuring family manuscripts, recordings and first-person testimonies about her impact on Caymanian life.<ref name="Gallego 2023"/>

Although brief—three stanzas and a refrain—the lyrics evoke "soft, fresh breezes", "verdant trees" and the surrounding "blue Caribbean Sea", themes that have encouraged their use in environmental speeches and heritage events as a musical shorthand for the islands' natural beauty and communal pride.<ref name="Levy 2016"/><ref name="Gallego 2023"/> Public performances routinely close civic ceremonies, and broadcast outlets include the piece in daily programming schedules, ensuring that Ross-Shier's celebration of home remains interwoven with contemporary Caymanian identity.<ref name="Levy 2016"/><ref name="Gallego 2023"/>

Although “Beloved Isle Cayman” had been long accepted as the official musical representation of the Cayman Islands, the nation lacked a truly professional version that could be used to fully portray the pictorial and lyrical beauty of the Song. In 2015, Leila Ross-Shier’s granddaughter Lisa Scott commissioned Grammy-winning conductor and violinist John McLaughlin Williams to create a new version of the National Song that could be used by the people of Grand Cayman and the Caymanian government for official purposes. The new version was recorded with full symphony orchestra in a version with a single verse and chorus, a version with all three verses and choruses, and an additional version featuring Lisa Scott as vocal soloist. All versions were presented to the Caymanian government, and the sheet music in vocal score was published and made available to the Caymanian population free of charge along with the recording. This is the version now heard commonly on the islands and elsewhere. It is generally agreed that this version enhances the natural beauty imbued in the Song by Leila Ross-Shier.

See also

• List of British anthems

External links

• Cayman Islands – nationalanthems.info

[1] - Beloved Isle Cayman arranged by John McLaughlin Williams and recorded by the Northwest Sinfonia, John McLaughlin Williams, Conductor

[2] I Cannot Thee Forget (documentary about Leila Ross Shier by filmmaker Badir Awe Template:National Anthems of North America