THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER'S BIRTHDAY, IN THE YEAR 1914

Another Article From My 1914 Almanac, I hope you find it very interesting.

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM'S CENTENARY

NINETEEN hundred and fourteen marks the centenary of the "Star-spangled Ban­ner," the song having been written in 1814 during the bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore.

The New York Times has been informed that the true history of the flag which inspired the song will be found in a volume on flags written many years ago by Commodore Preble, U.S.N. The same informant is authority for the state­ment that Eben Appleton, last owner of record of the flag is, or was lately, living in Yonkers, N. Y. He adds that several years ago the faded colors went to the National Museum at Washington by way of a temporary loan, Mr. Appleton properly asserting that every patriot should see and pay tribute to the flag that had inspired the classic "Star-spangled Banner." The flag contained about four hundred yards of bunting. Following the battle of Fort McHenry it was taken by Major Armistead as a memento of the memorable en­gagement, and on his death it passed to his widow. The flag then went to her daughter Georgianna (Mrs. William Stewart Appleton), who was born in the fort at a stormy period of our history.

After being kept secreted for some time follow­ing the battle, the flag was brought from its hid­ing place and once more unfurled over Fort McHenry. Mrs. Appleton died in 1878, and it was then that the banner passed to the ownership of Eben Appleton of Yonkers. Prior to the loan of it to the National Museum, Mr. Appleton kept the treasured flag in a fireproof vault.

A writer in the New York Evening Mail says: "Representative Levy of this State [New York], following the suggestion of a public petition, has introduced a bill in Congress to make the 'Star-
spangled Banner' the national anthem by statu­tory enactment, as it already is by the orders of the army and navy. It might be a good thing to establish the anthem by Congressional enactment; but before Congress legislates on the subject it ought to appoint an investigating committee to find out whether the tune can be fixed so that peo­ple can sing it. In the lay mind it seems per­fectly possible to rearrange the thing so that it would be just as tuneful as it is now without trying to cover so much of the scale. It is otherwise a very good tune, and there is no national anthem that sounds better when played by a good band, but any attempt of a miscellaneous crowd to sing it generally degenerates into a farce.

"The erratic character of the 'Star-spangled Banner' in this regard is explained by the origin of the tune. As everybody now knows, the air was originally a drinking song in England, where it was known to the frequenters of the London coffee houses in the eighteenth century as 'Anac-reon in Heaven.' The introductory line, 'When Bibo went down to the regions below,' was well adapted to the guttural descent which the notes make in this passage. It is well known that in­toxicated men, when they sing, are not bound by the musical limitations which usually circum­scribe the efforts of sober persons. They are fond of letting their voices run up into a wild shriek every little while. This accounts for the extraordinary jump to a high note which the tune takes in the last line. In spite of this weird char­acteristic—perhaps on account of it—'Anacreon in Heaven' became popular, and when Francis Scott Key wrote the words of the 'Star-spangled Banner' in 1814, he himself directed that it should be sung to this air."

And there you have it, very interesting read.

Sleep save, sleep sound, for all is well down on the farm.

The Old Farmer