![]() Being detained on his own ship, it’s quite fair to assume Key had ample resources to avoid using scrap paper of any sort. Historian: The words of To Anacreon in Heaven, the song that Francis Scott Key borrowed for the melody of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' is a sly 1700s paean to drinking and sex. Postage at the time was based on amount of sheets used, thus making envelopes wasteful and unnecessary. This is most likely false since envelopes were not commonly used until 1840 letters were instead written on a sheet of paper to be folded and sealed with wax. Between their loved home and the wars desolation Blest with victory and peace, may the heavn-rescued land. Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand. Oer the land of the free and the home of the brave. It was very usual at the time to change the lyrics of tavern songs to tell stories.Although the original draft is lost, it is often assumed that Key wrote the lyrics on the back of an envelope. And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave. It would discard the power of history, the use of both the troubles and triumphs of Key’s song as a compass navigating toward a more. The poem that formed the basis of the lyrics was penned in 1814 during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer who was sent to negotiate with the British in an attempt to gain the release of an American prisoner they were holding. To replace The Star-Spangled Banner may be a mistake. Scott Key would have been familiar with the Anacreontic Song, because it was very popular throughout the English-speaking world. This song is the national anthem of the United States. In fact, many composers recycled works by other artists and sometimes repurposed their own songs. The main melody of the song is practically identical to the Star Spangled Banner, which was formally adopted as the American national anthem by the US Congress in 1931.Ĭopyright infringement laws were not so strict back then. Members, many of whom of “fashionable society” including “several noblemen and gentlemen of the first distinction” started resigning after this incident and eventually the society was dissolved. Many members felt mortified when they found out that the Duchess had clandestinely attended their meetings (women were not allowed membership). ![]() Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, the English socialite famous for her beauty, charisma, style, political campaigning, gambling and turbulent love affairs, at least once sneaked into the tavern and hid in a secret room under the stage to enjoy all the carousing. Then, there would be a concert, a dinner and of course, lots of drinking. A home and a country, should leave us no more Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. Club meetings, which took place every other Wednesday at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand, London, opened with the president and all the members singing the Anacreontic Song. Over time, the Anacreontic Song became a popular drinking song on both sides of the Atlantic.īecause the Anacreontic Society’s main objective was to promote an interest in music, it organised regular concerts. The club, founded in the 18th century, was named after Anacreon, a Greek lyric poet, born around 582 BC, who was notable for his drinking songs and hymns, which talked about love, infatuation, disappointment, revelry, parties, festivals, and wine of course. The tune was composed by John Stafford Smith. It was a drinking song whose lyrics had been written in 1780 by Ralph Tomlinson, president of the Anacreontic Society, a popular gentlemen’s club of amateur musicians in London. The melody, however, had a more mundane and definitely less poetic origin. Key was inspired by the flag flying defiantly above the fort after the unsuccessful attempt by the British to take the fortified city of Baltimore. The lyrics to the anthem of the United States came from a poem called “Defence of Fort M’Henry”, written by a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet called Francis Scott Key, who witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.
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