St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-06-01


Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are march
ing, etc.
Root is also the author of "The Bat
tie Cry of Freedom"
Yes Wen rally round the flag boys
Wen rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry OF freedom.
We will rally from the hill side
Wen gather from the plain,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
There is an adaptability to the air Of
this song which makes it available to
many words. The soldiers were fond
of setting the words of .'Mary had Il lit
tie lamb to it, with ludicrous effect.
As for instance
Mary had little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow
Shouting the battle cry of freedom,
And every place that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure TO 90,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom
and so on. During the terrible fight
ing in the Wilderness on the 9th of
May, 1864, brigade of the Ninth
Corps, having broken the enemy's line
by an assault, became exposed to Il
flank attack and was driven back i'll
disorder with heavy loss. They re-
treated but a few hunderd yards, how
ever, reformed. and again confronted
the enemy Just then some gallant
fellows in the ranks of the Forty-iifth
Pennsylvania began to sing:
Wen rally round the flag, boys,
Rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom.
The refrain was caught up instantly
by the entire regiment and by the
Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, next in
line. There the grim ranks stood at
bay in the deadly thicket. The air
was filed with the crackle and smoke
of burning undcrbrush, the pitiful cries
of the wounded, the rattle of musketry,
and the shouts of command; but above
all, answering the eXultant yells of the
enemy, rose the inspiring chorus:
The Union forever hurrah, boys, hurrah,
Down with the traitor and up with the stari
And Wen rally round the flag, boys,
Rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom
One of the army songs, which has
become as popular in England as it is
in this country, is published as having
been written and composed by Robert
Lambert. This is a nom de plume for
p. 5. Gilmore. To be sure the words
do not amount to much, and there is
something disagreeable to Il well rcgu-
lated temperance mind like our own in
being obliged to melodiOusly inform
the public that
Wen all drink stone blind,
When Johnny comes marching home,
but the tune is of the rollicking. devil
may care order that is very catching.
But Gilmore says there is no such line
in the song written by him, and pub
lished over the nom de plume of Louis
Lambert, as the first line of the above;
but there was a parody. or whatever it
may be called, written by somebody
else to the same melody, each verse
closing with
Wen all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl.
The original words of the first StanZa
are as follows:
When Johnnie marching home again,
Hurrah Hurrah
Wen give him a hearty welcome then,
Hurrah HuTrah
The men will cheer the boys will shout
The ladies-they will all turn ont,
And we II all feel gay
When Johnnie comes marching home.
Gilmore says he is not the author of
the melody. 1t was Il sort of musical
wait he happened to hear somebody
humming i'll the early days of the re-
bellion, and taking fancy to it wrote
it down; dressed it up, gave it name,
and rhymed it iutO usefulness for Il
special purpose suited to the times.
This is the true story of ''When John
ME Comes Marching Home
Poor Miles O'Rielley (Charles G.
IIalpine) set to the Irish air of "The
Low Backed Car the words of the
humorous song of which we here give
the first verse, and we have heard him
sing it with fine effect
Some tell us It's a burning shame
To make the naygurs fight;
An that the thradc of being kilt
! Belongs but to the whites
| But as for me upon my soul!
! SO liberal are We here,
| III let Sambo he murdered in place of myself
On every day III the year
| On every day in the year. boys.
| And every hour in the day,
| The right to be kilt I'll divide wild him,
An dIvil a word | II say
Ali poor Charley. He was the life q
many camp fire was private Mile
O'Rielley, and much of the best an,
raciest literature of the war came from
his gifted pen.
"The Star Spangled Banner" will
ever rank as the first of American wa
songs, and linked with it will be "Hail
| 1OlullIblslg tAllltl II anu 1 ilt INtt
White and Blue We are not certain
that this latter is an American song. |
has been claimed by the English unde
the title ''Britannia, the Gem of tn
Ocean, The first person we eve
heard sing it was the late Edward l
Davenport. and he once informed Il
that he got the song in the mother land
"Hail, Columbia" was set by its author
Judge HOpkinson, to the air of eth
Presidents March, which sOmebod
had composed i'll honor of Washington
but the words of "The Star Spangle
Banner" are sung to an old EngliS
bacchanalian air, "To Anacreon i
heaven" while the Rev. Mr. Smith
"My Country, 'tis of Thee" goes to til
air of "God save the Queen" Th
, national hymn, with appropriate orig
t nal music, is yet to be written. Ke
, ler's hymn does not fill the bill, nor il
/ deed does Julius Eichberg's, or tn;
4 ambitious production which GiimOl
} gave to the country two or three yea
b since.
), We have touched but lightly, on
:, few of the soldiers songs. While thel
: was plenty of enduring poetry write
= during the war, the number of real
= meritorious songs that were given birt
Il to were few indeed. On the whole, "
e are inclined to think that in this II
t spect the south was in advance of u
= for we certainly (Mrs. Howe's mob
{ effort aside) do not possess IA sing
{ song of the rebellion at all comparab
t to Maryland, My Maryland" and ii
e air to which it is sung is well fitted
g the words. We remember once havir
!" heard it sung under circumstances tn
1t for the time made us fancy it was ii
- sweetest thing we ever listened t
II We had reached Frederick City
d MARYLAND after a distressing fore.