Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1897-07-24
OuR NATIONAL SONGS.

It was sturdy Andrew Fletcher who
wrote, i knew very wise man that
believed that if man were permitted
to make all the ballads, he need not
care who should make the laws Of a
nation" 1t would be interesting to
know how many free-born Americans
can repeat all, or even one, Of cur
national songs, and we limit the
number to four: Yankee Doodle, :"
"Hail, Columbia, /" "The Star spang
led Banner" and america. This
question was brought forcibly to mind
a year or two ago, when. on the re-
turn passage from Liverpool, Captain
Watkins, now on the Paris, but at
that time on the Berlin, was presid-
ing at an entertainment given by the
passengers for the Seamen's Fund.
"God save the Queen" had been lus-
tily sung when, out of courtesy to the
Americans on board the captain sug-
gested the singing Of America.
After burst of applause,
"My country, It's of thee,
Sweet land Of liberty"
rose in full chorus; but at the close of
the fourth line the words grew faint
err, and when the end of the first verse
was reached only three voices were
heard, one of them being that OF the
gallant captain, who was bravely
striving, in his heavy English way,
to sing song that Americans evil
IDENTIFY could not
The spangled Banner was
written by Francis Scott Key, in 1914,
at the time of the bombardment OF
Fort McHenry. Mr.. Key was we'll
known lawyer Of Baltimore, brother
in-1aw Of Chief Justice r. B. fancy,
of the Supreme Court of the United
States. BY authority of President
Madison, Mr.. Key had gone to the
British fleet under flag of truce, to
secure the release of his friend, DIR.
Beanes, who tad been captured by
the enemy and was detained on board
the flagship Surprise, commanded by
Sir Thomas Cochrane, son of Adj
miral Cochrane, on the charge of vi
olating his parole. The negotiations
were successful; but the British, be-
ing about to make combined attack
by sea and land on Baltimore, de-
tanned Key, lest he should carry in
te1ligence of their preparations to his
countrymen. Being noncombatant,
he was not made prisoner of war, but
was simply detained on shipboard for
a few days. He then, with his friend,
witnessed the bombardment of Fort
McHenry, the key of Baltimore, anx-
iously watching his country's flag all
day floating over the fort, catching
occasional glimpses of it through the
night, by explosion of shells and
rockets, and deliberately saw it when
the morning dawned, still waving
over its patriotic defenders. The
song, in fact. is a description of the
scene and his feeling on the occasion.
In the enthusiasm Of the hour Mr.
Key seized pencil and, sitting on
the deck, with the flag floating over
the fort before him, wrote on the back
of an envelope the song whose words
will never die so long as the Ameri-
can heart thrills with the love of
country. He finished it on his way
to the shore, and at the hotel in Balti-
more wrote it out just as it now
stands. The next morning he took
it to Judge Nicholson, of the Court of
Appeals, whose wife was a sister of
Mrs. Key, and asked him how he
liked it. The Judge, who had COM
manded a volunteer company OF ar
tillery in the engagement, praised it
enthusiastically. 1t was then placed
in the hands of a printer, and was
printed on a single sheet of paper,
aud distributed in every part of the
CITY. It was hailed with enthusiasm,
and it was soon regarded as Ameri-
cas- favorite anthem.