Alexander Muir

Alexander Muir (5 April 1830 near Lanark – 26 June 1906) was a songwriter, poet and school headmaster. A childhood immigrant to Canada from his native Scotland, he grew up in Toronto, Ontario, and studied at Queen's College, where he graduated in 1851. He taught in the Greater Toronto Area in such places as Toronto, as well as in Newmarket, Beaverton, and in then suburban areas as Parkdale and Leslieville, where he lived on Laing Avenue. Muir's claim to fame was the song "The Maple Leaf Forever", composed in 1867 to celebrate the Confederation of Canada. He was later (1888-1901) principal of Toronto's "Gladstone Avenue Public School" (renamed after his death in his honour). A school named Alexmuir Jr. PS is named after him, located in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Also, there is an Alex Muir Public School named in his honour in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

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 serving with the regiment.

A formal garden and park just south of Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue in Toronto is named in his honour,

External links

* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0002484 Alexander Muir] at The Canadian Encyclopedia
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6946 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.utoronto.ca/icm/0101b.html Article on Maple Cottage, Leslieville (Toronto) and "The Maple Leaf Forever"]
* [http://www.louisbourg.ca/music/themapleleafforever.mp3 The Maple Leaf Forever MP3]
* [http://members.shaw.ca/tunebook/mapleaf.mid The Maple Leaf Forever MIDI File]
* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/17304.mp3 The Maple Leaf Forever Johnson, Edward, 1878-1959]