The text is by the Frisian writer Eeltsje Halbertsma. The version commonly sung today is an abridgement, dating from 1876, by Jacobus van Loon. The words were not set to music until after Halbertsma's death (they were first sung in 1875 at a ceremony held to commemorate his work), The song was adopted as the Frisian anthem by the Selskip foar Frysk Taal- en Skriftekennisse (Society for Frisian Language and Literature) on the urging of politician, writer and poet Pieter Jelles Troelstra (1860-1930) and has served as the anthem of Friesland ever since.