The Washington herald., 1907-10-13

dent Mrs. John Wood was appearing at
the New Orleans Varieties Theater 10
{ "Pocahontas.' on account of the rising
tide of war a zOuave drill was introduced
into the show. The orchestra leader tried
over several airs for the march, and
finally hit upon Dixie" The war cloud
burst the next week. and from New Or
leans Dixie spread over all the South
At the North, Fanny J. Crosby, the
hymn writer, wrote q song Tor Dixie
which was strongly Union in sentiment,
but the other side had pre-empted the
air. Then q Boston company began sing
ing John Browns Body, and the whole
North Joined in the glory, glory, hallelu-
jah"
Mrs, Julia Ward Howe's great posm,
The Battle Hymn of the Republic"
written Tor the John Brown" air. still
survives, but the soldiers never sang it.
just as the Southern soldiers could not be
induced to accept Albert Pixies political
version of Dixie" War songs do not
depend upon the political argument in
corpOrated in their words for popularity.
The boys on a hike" want a tune.
John Browns Body" was sung by
Ktcheners British troops in the Sudan
and by Lord Roberts men fighting the
Beers, making it almost a universal An
glo-Saxon air.
Yet the American Soldiers in the war
with Spain, many Of them from the
South, forgot the past and its tunes, and
in 1898 the national air Of the United
States was "Thereu Be Hot Time in
Il.
with Mexico. the American troops forgot
the ''Star-Spangled Banner" Of the war
Of 1872 and sang Robert Burns Green
Grow the Rushes. O." Why that par
ticular Scotch air nobody knows, but the
fact remains that the Mexicans thought
it was our national anthem. Their at
tempt at pronouncing the first two words
resulted in "grinso," and in Mexico a
citizen of the United States is a grin
GO until this day.
Another popular Southern air is really
an cid German one II had been Used in
America for many years as a vehicle for
the old college song, ''Lauriger Horatius,
but it is now universally associated with
Maryland. Ny Maryland" This song
was considered by James Russell Lowell
to be the best poem produced by the
civil war. and Mr.. Lowell could not have
been partial TO its sentiments It was
written by James Ryder Randall, a
Marylander, who is stin living and in
good health. At the outbreak Of hostiH-
ties Mr.. Randall was teaching in a small
college in Louisiana. When he heard
the news of the riots in the streets OF
Baltimore in April, 1861, he was fred
by the intelligence and angry because
his native State did not fOrsake the
Union. Under these circumstances he
wrote the poem. 1t was first published
in the New Orleans Delta, and copied IN
all the Southern papers, and, of course,
became very popular among Maryland
secessionists. One of these. Miss Jennie
Cary, suggested adapting it to the air of
the familiar college song. Miss Cary
was IN Virginia just after the first bat
tie of Bull Rug. She and party of
friends were seTenaded at Fairfax Court
House by the Washington Light Artillery.
of New Orleans. Hiss Cary responded Dy
singing Maryland, Ny Maryland" II
Mr.. Randall had written on the other
side. with as great literary force. he
would to-day rank high among American
poets
The origin of Yankee Doodle" is
shrouded in the mystery of a score OF