From: KARLIN@BNLCL6.BNL.GOV (P.L. Cowan)
Subject: Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Organization: BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 16:18:59 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23

I just looked at soc.history for the first time. Boy, do they have a mess!
I just hope Mutlu doesn't decide he is interested in the American Civil War.

Any way, one post over there raised some questions about the "Battle Hymn of
the Republic". Since I had a question of my own on the subject, I thought I'd
transplant it to this news group which is currently less "noisy". I have
extracted the most informative follow-up posting, which included the original
question.

In <11756@optilink.UUCP> cramer@optilink.UUCP writes:

: In article <22828@hacgate.SCG.HAC.COM>, meyer@brahma.edsg.hac.com (Mike Meyer) writes:
: > Can anybody here either fill me in or point me to a reference about the
: > origin of the song "Battle Hymn of the Republic?"
: > 
: > When was it written?  Did it pre-date the civil war?  Was it written as
: > a propaganda song for the war?   Where was it first published or heard?
: > 
: > Who is this Steffe-Howe person, anyway?
: > 
: > The song "John Brown's Body" is a variant on the Battle Hymn; which came
: > first?  Was the melody already around (like "The Star Spangled Banner") or
: > was it composed?
: > 
: > Mike Meyer
: 
: The song "John Brown's Body" was written shortly before the war,
: obviously after John Brown was executed by the state of Virginia.
: (Hence, the verse, "John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the 
: grave.")  It was, not surprisingly, popular with extreme 
: abolitionists, since more moderate elements of the North were
: not at all pleased with Brown's rash use of force.
: 

A folk singer (of Civil War tunes) in Harper's Ferry W.Va. told the story that
the song was adapted from a Methodist Hymn by soldiers in a Mass. regiment.
He said that the subject was not the famous "John Brown" but a fellow soldier
of the same name who had died early in the war due to illness. The song
allegedly caught on for other (obvious) reasons. I don't necessarily buy this
story, but I am curious if anyone else knows anything about it.

: During the Civil War, a poem by Julia Ward Howe was fit to the
: tune from "John Brown's Body."  "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
: has either four, five, or six verses, depending on where you
: look, though the sixth verse is not by Howe.
: 
: We only had the first verse in songbooks when I was in school.
: A few years back, when I was looking for an appropriate title
: for a book*, I had occasion to go find the entire song, and I
: immediately saw why we didn't get the rest of the verses in
: school -- the subsequent verses were subversive and dangerous
: to secular thought, including such dangerous ideas as: "As
: Christ died to make men holy, let us die to make men free."
: 

He could have easily found serveral verses, including this one, in a modern 
Methodist Hymnal. (When the latest edition was in progress, the song was to be
excluded, but it was restored due to a great up-roar.)

: *By The Dim and Flaring Lamps: The Civil War Diaries of Samuel McIlvaine
:  edited by Clayton E. Cramer
: 
:  ISBN: 0-912526-46-7
:  published by Library Research Associates, Monroe, NY
:  $28.95, hardback
: 
: There are amusing variants of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
: sung by schoolchildren throughout the U.S., including such
: memorable first verses as:
: 
:     Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school,
:     We have fired all the teachers and broken every rule.
: 
: Texas variants of the 1960s seem to have had such amusing
: choruses (for kids) as:
: 
:     Glory, glory, hallejuah, teacher hit with a ruler,
:     I knocked her to the floor with a loaded .44,
:     and she ain't comin' back no more.

In Pennsylvania we sang:

     Glory, glory, hallejuah, teacher hit me with a ruler,
     I bopped her on the beany with a rotten tangeriney
     Our gang goes marching on.
	
: -- 
: Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
: I can make myself popular on USENET again -- all I have to say is that I'm not 
: disturbed by the support for North American Man-Boy Love Association in the 
: homosexual community.  Being popular at a child's expense isn't worth it.



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P. L. Cowan	Please send replies, comments etc. (no flames thank you) to 
COWAN@ANL.GOV 	(I'm posting this from a friend's account)
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