Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-12-20
NATIONAL SONGS.

/ VERY interesting was that period OF
the middle ages when minstre.sy Wassin
high repate. First there came the
bards; than came the minstrels-and
then poets sprung up-thar Is, men who
cultivated beautiful thoughts, and elab-
GRATED them In smooth aud polished Ian
gnsge for the minstrel to sing. The
minstrel was q musician; but he might
be q poet too, as Blondel was. Many of
the popular songs were doubtless COM
posed by the minstrels, from whom the
popular ear caught up the verse and the
music, aud thus the songs were carried
into the home, and have slieatede down to
|sas In long undulating waves of melody,
from generation to generation. Cehtu-
ries ago, the Battle Of Chevy Chase
MAS chanted along the Scottish border
atoHce Q history, tale, and a tragedy,
embodied In q song-and to this day, 1t
miration Of even the most cultivated
minds. 1t was sung in the halls of the
warlike border chiefs, as a war-cry of
defiance and hate-the English border
ers singing one version of 1t, and the
| Scottish borderers another, each hatter-
| ing the martial prowess of their respec-
| tive sides; but to-day, it is chiefly his
| toric picture Of time long since passed
away-though, as such, it is invaluable.
Yet Sir Philip Sydney said of "Chevy
Chase" that he never heard it sung
without being stirred as by the blast Of
n trumpet. Did not Homer write histo-
ry In his glorious s'Iliad ?" without
which. the warfare which stormed
around the walls of the long-buried and
now almost undiscoyerable city of Troy,
| were long. since forgotten. And what
| should we know of the ancient history
| of Germany, but for its Eiejelungen
Lred? And is not the thrilling history
OF Spain, In the terrible contest with
i the Moors, more graphically written in
i the Romance OF the Cid'' than any
where else? We, too, had our old ro-
mances OF ARTHUR aud the Round Ia
4 ble;" and the French had theirs OF
Launceiot aa Lac, Charlemagne ct Rot
and, with many other beautiful songs oi
the Troubadours.
4 Popular song has always possessed
great power among the peogle Of Danish
! closely connected. But twenty-five
years ago, during the war between Dem
mark and Schleswig-Hols popu-
EIarsong was produced, called Den Tap.
IRE Ldndsoidas, which produced a fit OF
tenthusiasm OF the most extraordinary
kind. Mr.. Burton, in his excellent vol
| ume, ''From Leith to Lapland," says ol
it; s'1he most famous national wal
song in the world is the Narseiilaise
but, in my humble estimation, it is de
cidedly inferior to that of Denmark
lDen 1'dpfre LapdsOtdat {erhe Brave Sol
der lad The latter, moreover, doe.
not partake of that biood-thirsty veir
, which pervades the French hymn. De7
TGptFe LGndsolddt was written and Sc
TO music at the commencement of tht
| war between Denmark aud the Duchies
J and 30 eminently national is it, that ont
burst of enthusiasm, from end to end o.
4 the Kingdom, hailed its advent. Tht
author and composer were both re
warded with knighthood of the order o.
the Dannesborg. During my residence
: at Copenhagen, Den Tapfre Landsoidd
was in the mouth of old and young, a
all hours, in all places, on all occasions
J The gentleman hummed it over hi
wine, the lady at her toilet, the mechan
ic at his bench, the sliopInan at his coun
ter, the maiden at her spinning wheel
:. the child at its play. Ii you walk tn,
streets, you hear it more or less every
: few yards; If you enter drawing
room. the young ladies are sure to b,
drumming it on the piano; If yOl
bought Il pOekct~handkerchIef, yoi
, would find the words and music printed
, on it. l have heard 1t sung, in CRANE
: chorus, by whole battallions of soldiers
oil the march; and my own little fair,
queen, of three years of age, has lspet
3 1t to me. So powerfully does it appca
, to the hearts of Scandinavians, that II
Christiana and Bergen | heard it suns
!, by the Norwegian troops, and almost a
: frequently by the Danes in Copenhagen
) and when / sailed into the harbor o
r Fronuiso, close on the borders of Fin
land a boat came from the town with
. bugle, playing the spirit-stirring nj
with n first-rate skill" J"
. From very early period, the Scan
dinavians have been celebrated for thei
{ popular songs. Their history begin
Z with the Saga or ballads Of the ancfen
1 bards. The old Mortimer were q val
orous race; their Vikings were tn
9 kings of the ocean centuries ago, rovin!
:. in search of booty along the coast of al
European countries; and returning
S home again In autumn. after summer
j piracy, they spent the winter by tn
); fire, in recounting their deeds of darIn
e while the scalds (bards) famed their en-
c thusiasm, by setting their prowess t
music. and chanting it In songs and bal
: lads. Hence the old Rdda, or poems O
e Norway-the earliest literature of tn
$ North, aud Its first history. A collec
. ton of these old songs has been mad
I, In Denmark, and though written !
d Danish, they belong to the whole OF th
: Scandinavian nations. Many of OF,
$ oldest English and Scotch ballads bear
j striking resemblance to the songs i'm til
e collection; and this Is easily understoo
when the intimate connection of tn
e Northern nations with England, at q
early period, Is taken into account
These old ballads are like the times