Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-08-09

HgfH=Aikf~ writer of cam
SSNszSS paign songs, and
Josephs has been
the first to distinguish himself in that
line during the present season of politi-
cal excitement.
Freneau, who was born in New York
city in 1862 and who died at Freehold,
N. j., in 1882, did his most effective
rhyming when about thirty years of age.
1t was then that he published his bitter
attack on Dunmore, few lines of which
read as follows:
Though a brute and a Ounce, like the rest OF
the clan,
i can govern as well as most Englishmen can,
And II I'm a drunkard l still am man.
Since those "days that tried mems
souls the campaign song has undergone
variety Of transformations. Some
times it has been humorous, often bit
terly partisan, occasionally vague as to
meaning and hating as to meter, but
nearly always intensely patriotic. In
deed it may be said of political rhymes
that have been set to music and sung by
millions that their name is legion, but
the vast majority have died with the oc.
casion that brought them forth. Each
town or hamlet has had its poet, and
the strength of his production has usu-
ally depended upon the aptness Of his
local reference. What was familiar in
Maine during heated political canvass
was not therefore always appreciated in
Maryland or Missouri. "Tippecanoe
and Tyler Too" the alliterated refrain
of one of the popular songs of the pres
idential campaign of 1910, is probably
one of the most frequently recalled of
the ancient lines.
Throughout the Republican songs Of
the day we find that the majority of the
poets are at one with the campaign ora
tors, and the words as well as the tunes
are generally those which the late war
made familiar. The Democratic songs
are likewise in harmony with the
speeches made on the Democratic stump.
Charles G. Halpine, or as he was bet
ter known, "Miles O'Reilly," was one of
the versiiers whose songs and poems
generally met with warm welcome,
and the rollicking style IN which he
rang the changes on bumpers and
chanted choruses is still remembered.
For instance:
So, boys, a final bumper.
While we all in chorus chant,
For our next president Wen nominate
Our own Ulysses Grant.
II asked what state he halls from,
This our sole reply will be,
From near Appomattox court house,
With its famous apple tree,
For twas there to our Ulysses
That Lee gave up the fight.
Now, boys, to Grant for president,
And God defend the right.
Here is still another specimen:
When the White House changes hands,
And our general takes command.
And our marching days and nights are fully
DER,
We will lay our torches by
And uniting hand in hand,
Swear the Union shall be stronger than before.
Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys, etc.
A campaign song does not rely for its
effectiveness upon the beauty or cor
rectness of its lines. Give it fetching
quality, and the man who makes it will
have all the satisfaction he wants. Dur
ing the Chicago convention Sam Josephs,
of Pennsylvania, who has already been
referred to, earned a rare reputation by
starting a song that served to "bring
the house down" Somehow he had
caught the melody of the baby song in
the comic opera wang" which De Wolf
Hopper has made familiar, and on his
way to Chicago he RECALLED his delega-
ton with the lines, as far so he could re-
member them, something after the fol-
lowing style:
Baby, baby,
She's my darling baby,
Up she goes,
Down she goes,
La. la, La, La, La, la.
It worried the jovial singer that he
couldn't recall the last line, but the in
SEPARATION came to him later on, and
rushing into the Sherman House, where
AN