This most popular of all British national airs was first heard in London in 1745 and achieved instant popularity. So well known was it that the composer Handel even quoted it in his Occasional Oratorio in the following year when it was sung to the words, "War shall cease, welcome peace!" Predictably "Rule, Britannia!" was seized upon by the Jacobites and James Thomson's words were altered. At the time it appeared, the song was not a celebration of the existing state of naval affairs as Britain did not "rule the waves" — rather, it a ...

See also:

Rule Britannia, Rule Britannia - History, Rule Britannia - Lyrics, Rule Britannia - Other uses

Read more here: » Rule Britannia: Encyclopedia II - Rule Britannia - History