The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-02-06
POPULAR SONGS.
4 nnerIcan Productioss That Have A.
tained Wide Popularity.

the tune itself is an oil Methodist camp
meeting tune. and the words were
adapted to it by a glee club in Boston
in 1861. It was first published at
Charlestown, Mass. Captain James
Greenleaf, an organist of the Harvard
church. set the notes for music, and a
Massachusetts regiment made them
first noted by singing them in Fort
Warren in 1861.
The author Of Maryland. My Mary
land" lives At Washington. and you
may see him in the press galleries Of
Congress almost any day during the
session. His name is James 4. Randall.
and he is . est-looking. darkroom
plexioned man of forty. He must have
been very young when he wrote that
beautiful poem. His ideas are broader
now, and he is as liberal in views as any
member of the gallery.
America" was written by the Rev.
Samuel Francis Smith in 1882, and il
was first sung in Boston on the Fourth
of July Of that year. Like the Battle
Hymn Of the Republic, /" it was inspired
by 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 sitting.
John Howard Payne's Home, Swee'
Home" was written for an opera, and
he never got anything for it but his
tombstone in Oak Hill Cemetery. II
was first sung in the Covent Garden
Theater 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 ten thou.
sand dollars from it.
Robert Treat Paine wrote Eye Sons
of Columbia" early in 1900. under the
title of adams and Liberty" and he
was paid seven hundred and fifty dol
lars for it. Paine was the son of one OF
the signers of the Declaration OF indie
pendence. He was . Massachusetts
man, and died in Boston in 1911.
Foster got fifteen thousand dollar
for writing 'Old Folks at Homo. !"
Charles Dibdin Melted several weeks
board, for writing Poor Jack" while
his publishers made twenty-five thou
sand dollars out of it. Crouch. the
writer of Kathleen Mavourneen. re-
ceived twenty-five dollars for the pro
duction, and afterward became beg.
ging tramp. while his publishers could
have built brown stone front out OF its
sales. George P. Morris wrote Wood
man. Spare That Tree" because the
purchaser of friends estate wanted tc
cut down tree which his grandfather
had planted. His friend paid the pur-
chaser ten dollars to spare it. Morris
was touched by the story and wrote the
cong.
sHail Columbia" was written by
Joseph Hopkinson in the summer OF 1898.
and It was first called The Presidents
March, 1t was always sung when
Washington came into the theatre, and
one of the objects of its writing was
the cultivation of q patriotic spirit
among the people Of the Republic.
Joseph Hopkinson was nty-eight
years old when he wrote il. An auto.
graph copy. penned in 1928, was shown
ct the Centennial. It was first set tc
music by German music teacher, al
Philadelphia, named Roth.
1.-The Star-Spangled Banner" was
written by Francis Scott Key while
watching the bOmbardment of Fort
McHenry. He was in q small vessel
among the British ships and he saw his
countrymen win the victory. All
through the fight he watched anxiously
to see il the flag was still standing.
looking for it at night by the fash OF
the bombshells and anxiously waiting
the dawning. The song was printed in
the Baltimore american eight DAYS
after the battle, under the title of 1.-The
Defense of Fort McHenry,"
Many people viii be surprised to
Know that Yankee Doodle is not OF
American origin. Even the words
date back beyond the days of Queen
Anne, and the tune is still older. I'm
the wars Of the Roundheads," says
Commodore Preble. in his book on the
flag of the United States, to which, by
the way. am indebted for much Of
this information, "'Yankee Doodle, or
.sNankee Doodle was applied in
aerision to Cromwell. and Professor
Rimbault. prominent physician Of
London, wrote the song directed at
Cromwell under this title. The jingles
of these two songs are about the same
aud the words are not much different.
DR.. Schuchburg first introduced the song
into this country in 1775, and this was
also in contempt of the ragged colonial
soldiers. At Concord and Lexington
the British, whom advancing to fight.
brayely played God Save the King
and after they were defeated the
struck up Yankee Doodle. ~
''Colnmbia, the Gem Of the Ocean
was written by Thomas Beckett, an En-
glish actor. who in 1879 was a teacher
Of music at Philadelphia. The Blue
and the Gray was written by Francis
Miles Finch, and delivered before re-
union of the Army of the Potomac. II
was drawn out by the fact that the