This chime was created to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. Originally commissioned for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony, the song’s music was composed by Calixa Lavallée and the original French lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The English lyrics that are used today were written by Robert Stanley Weir in 1908. O Canada has served as the Canadian national anthem since 1939, but wasn’t made official until July 1, 1980. Because Canada is a bilingual country with both English and French being official languages, performers singing O Canada often mix the English and French lyrics. The majority of the wood used in Woodstock Chimes is Canadian ash.