The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-09-03
POPULAR AMERICAN SONGS.
what They Are and who Wrote TheIp
Origin OF tsYRnkce DOOdIeS

Origin OF yankee DOOdle.S
"John Browns Body" is an old
Methodist camp meeting tune, and the
words were adapted to it by glee club
of Boston. 1t was first published at
Charlestown, Mass. Captain James
Grecnleaf, an organist of the Harvard
church, set the notes for music, and Mas
sachusetts regiment made them first
aoted by singing them in Fort Warren
in 1861.
The author OF "Maryland, My Mary.
land" lives here at Washington, and
you may see him in the press galleries of
Congress almost any day during the ses.
sion. He writes gossipy letters to the
Atlanta Chronicle. His name is James
r. Randall. and he is a modest looking
dark complexioned man of forty. lie
must have been very young when he
wrote that beautiful poem.
"America" was written by the Rev.
Samuel Francis Smith in 1885, and il
was first sung in Boston on the 4th OF
July of that year. Like the "Battle
Hymn of the Republic" it was inspired
by n great tune viz: "God Save the
King" This tune is in use in nearly
every country, and it has been ascribed
to Handel. The writer of the words
still lives in Massachusetts, and he says
he wrote the song at a sitting. He is
now seventy-tive years old, and he
graduated at Harvard in the same class
with Oliver Wendell Holmes
John Howard Payne's "Home, Sweet
Home" was written for an opera, and
he never got anything for it but his
tombstone in Oak Hill cemetery. 1t was
first sung in the Covent Garden theatre
in London, and made big hit. One
hundred thousand copies were sold the
FIRST year, and by the end of the second
its publishers cleared $40, 900 from it.
Foster got SIS, 200 for writing cold
Folks at Home" Charles Didbin Melted
several weeks board for writing poor
Jack" while his publishers made $l5,-
900 out of it. Crouch, the writer OF
''Kathleen Mayoureen, received $25 fol
the production, and afterward became .
begging tramp, while his publishers
could have built brown stone
front out of its sales George
P. Morris wrote ''Woodman,
Spare That Tree" because the purchaser
Of friends estate wanted to cut down
tree which his grandfather had planted.
His friend paid the purchaser $40 to
spare it. Morris was touched by the
,toSy and wrote the song.
"Hail Columbia" was written by 10
eph Hopkinson in the summer of 1898,
and it was first called the "President's
March" 1t was always sung when Wash
ngton came into the theatre, and one oil
;he objects of its writing was the cult
walton of q patriotic spirit among the
people of the republic. Joseph Hopkin
son was twenty eight years old when he
wrote it. An autograph copy pcnned in
1928 was shown at the Centennial. II
was first set to music by a German mu
sic teacher at Philadelphia named Roth.
"The Star Spangled Banner" was
written by Francis Scott Key while
watching the BON bardment of Fort Nc,
aenry. He was in a small vessel among
she British ships and he saw his coun.
trymen win the victory. All through
The fight he watched anxiously to see if
the flag was still standing, looking for
t at night by the flash of the bombshells
and anxiously awaiting the dawnng.
The song was printed in the Baltimore
american eight days after the bat.le
Under the title of 1.-THE Defense of Fort
NcHenry.
Many people will be surprised to know
that "Yankee Doodle" is not of Alneri-
IAN origin Even the words date back
beyond the days of Queen Anne, and the
tune is still older. In the wars Of the
Roundheads, says Commodore PEBBLE in
his book on the flag of the United States,
to which, by the way, am indebted for
much of this information, yankee Doc
ale" was applied in derision to Crom-
well, and Professor Rimbault, promi-
nent physician of London, wrote the
song directed at Cromwell under this
title. The jingle of these two songs are
about the same, and the words are not
much different DIR. Schuchburg first
introduced the song into this country in
1875, and this was also in contempt of
the ragged colonial soldiers. At Con
cord and Lexington the British, when
advancing to fright, bravely played "God
Save the King" and after they were
defeated the Yankees, as they watched
their retreat, struck up yankee Doodle. "
Columbia, the Gem of the, Ocean"
vas written by Thomas A. Beckett, an
english actor, who in 1889 was teacher
If music at Philadelphia. 1.-THE Blue
md the Gray was written by Francis
Niles Finch, and delivered before a
eunion of the Army of the Potomac. 1t
was drawn out by the fact that the
women of Columbus, Miss, strewed
lowers on the graves Of Confederate and
Union soldiers alike. 1t was published
the Atantic Monthly, September, 1867.
-C{erelaad Louder. ISL