The Defense of Fort McHenry, written this day (September 14, 2010) 196 years ago by Francis Scott Key, became our National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”
Posted on: September 14, 2010
NPR reported this morning that Francis Scott Key wrote the poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry” this day 196 years ago, September 14, 1814.
“The Defense of Fort McHenry” is the poem Francis Scott Key wrote while stranded on a British War Ship in Baltimore Harbor, on a mission, letter in hand from President Monroe, to free his captured friend Dr. William Beanes. Having discovered the night before that the British were planning to attack Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key and his friend Dr. William Beanes were required to wait the battle out on the British ship. So inspired by his view of the battle from the harbor and the sight of the great American Flag which brazenly weathered the onslaught (though not undamaged), Mr. Key scribbled lines of poetry on the back of an envelope. When he reached shore, the poem was published in the paper and soon people all over Baltimore were singing it to the tune of popular drinking song. The song became known as “The Star Spangled Banner” and it became our National Anthem in 1931.
A website devoted to Francis Scott Key:
http://francisscottkey.info/index.html
Click here to see an original manuscript of Francis Scott Key’s poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry,”
http://francisscottkey.info/id6.html
*********************
An act of friendship on the part of Mr. Key and the act of defiance on the part of that historic flag and we’ve got ourselves and inspiring (though challenging) tune with which to honor our Nation and to sing at the beginning of baseball games (and that’s the best part of any ballgame if you ask me!).
Francis Scott Key wrote four full verses to the poem. Generally, we only sing the first, but all three verses can be sung to the familiar tune:
The Defense of Fort McHenry
(also known as “The Star Spangled Banner”)
Poem by Francis Scott Key
O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
*********************
It’s great fun to visit Fort McHenry in Baltimore and visit the very spot where the flag held forth, see the ramparts, and imagine the ships in Baltimore Harbor.
Visit the website for the Fort McHenry National Monument:
http://www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm
(Fort McHenry National Monument on Baltimore Harbor, Photo Credit: The Park Service)
**********************
SMITHSONIAN STAR SPANGLED BANNER EXHIBIT IN THE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN WASHINGTON DC AND A FABULOUS ONLINE RESOURCE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE FLAG, THE SONG, AND THE WAR OF 1812
You can visit the actual flag, preserved at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
It is the very definition of an awesome experience:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=70
Click here for an online exhibition of the flag, the song and its history:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/
*********************
What makes all this extra fun for me? “The Star Spangled Banner” is the subject of many Singable Picture Books!
*
The Star-Spangled Banner
Words by Francis Scott Key
Music by J. Stafford Smith
Edited by Barbie H. Schwaeber
Illustrated by Frank Ordaz
*
Oh Say Can You See (The Star Spangled Banner)
Traditional Tune
Words by Frances Scott Key
Additional Text by D. Clark
Published by Make Believe Ideas Ltd.
*
Star Spangled Banner
Words by Francis Scott Key
Music by J. Stafford Smith
Illustrated by Peter Spier
(When it comes to creating accurately detailed pictures that are fun to look at and respect the intelligence of children, you can’t find a better illustrator than Peter Spier. This is a fantastic book. The pictures tell the authentic story of the battle, witnessed by Francis Scott Key, which inpired the poem, which was later set to music and eventually became our National Anthem. This book features printed music and a detailed essay about the song, and three verses of the song’s original text.)
*
Star Spangled Banner
Words by Francis Scott Key
Music by J. Stafford Smith
Illustrated by Todd Ouren
(This book features printed music and historical information)
*
Story of the Star Spangled Banner
Written by Patricia A. Pingry
Illustrated by Nancy Munger
*
The Star Spangled Banner
Traditional Tune
Words by Francis Scott Key
Text by Amy Winstead
Illustrated by Bob Dacey and Debra Bandelin
*
The Star-Spangled Banner
Traditional Tune
Words by Francis Scott Key
Published by Random House Books For Young Readers
ISBN: 978-0375815966
**********************
STAR SPANGLED BANNER ON THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
2/7/2012
Watching the Antiques Roadshow broadcast from Eugene Oregon, I enjoyed this appraisal of a piece of the music used by a team of great American musicians to standardize the National Anthem under orders from President Woodrow Wilson.
Click here to view the appraisal form 2/6/2012:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2191597149
I’m hoping they will soon upload the video to YouTube, so I can embed the video. But for now, the best I can do is the link.
*********************
STAR SPANGLED BANNER FIRST EDITION SHEET MUSIC SOLD A CHRISTIE’S AUCTION HOUSE
December 2012
I ran across an article about the December 2010 record breaking sale of a first edition copy of the Star Spangled Banner sheet music. The article contains pictures of the first edition sheet, but also a wealth of information about the song:
http://www.luxist.com/2010/12/03/star-spangled-banner-sells-for-record-auction-price-at-christie/
**********************
Read an interesting wiki article, here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner
For a list of patriotic Singable Picture Books, click here:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/a-patriotic-list-of-singable-books-for-july-4th/
Sing the National Anthem with this Karaoke video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i426pbQJZ_g
It is ESPECIALLY fun to sing the Star-Spangled Banner along with Pat Donohue’s gorgeous guitar work, from his album, “American Guitar.” To hear a clip or buy the track, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012AMU8W/ref=dm_dp_trk16?ie=UTF8&qid=1284489815&sr=8-1
(PS: Pat Donohue is a featured musician in the Prairie Home Companion’s “Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band”…read on!)
**********************
From my March 2011 post, “The Star-Spangled Banner and the Man in the Red Shoes on the Radio”
My walk-up apartment in NYC was in the middle of a block on the 5th of 6 or 7 floors. Cable was not on my list of affordable luxuries and my television go no reception at all. But my tiny little flat was a world of happiness, thanks in large part to the delights of the public radio station WNYC and broadcasts of shows like “Prairie Home Companion.”
I looked forward to hearing Garrison Keillor’s show all week long. Now, though the duties of motherhood often have me away from the radio on the weekends, I listen to the show whenever I can and savor it like a child licking a lollipop that she wants to last forever and ever.
These days, my Netflix Q of on-demand videos brings me a lot of joy and includes many documentaries, including one I just saw:
Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes
Few things on earth inspire me more than Mr. Keillor and “Prairie Home Companion” and this documentary stoked the fire of my love.
I deeply enjoy finding places where beloved art forms intersect, as they did in this documentary, with the junction of “Prairie Home Companion” and our National Anthem and Singable Picture Book “The Star Spangled Banner.”
About 29 minutes into the show, Mr. Keillor says, in a scene performing before a live audience, “Let’s start out by standing and singing our Star-Spangled Banner…” And then he continues with a voice over commentary about singing the song,
…Minnesota is a place where if you ask an audience to sing, they’re gonna do it, they were brought up to. Like ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ Which, like our system of government, is much maligned and badly abused, but, if you put it in the right key, which is the key of G, it works pretty well. And it’s very moving. People get so much of their politics listening to other people rant and rave on the radio sitting alone in a car, or reading someone’s blog. And, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is one of those rare moments when we sing a song together. Which means more for all of us joining in. We share a common tongue and a fondness for jokes a love of American landscape and we are a Union.
This is also why singing songs together (especially with children and Singable Picture Books) is such a worthy activity…to enjoy our heritage in song, a moment in common. And it allows for the reflection that regardless of what ideologies that divide us, we know, share and love, so many of the same things.
**********************
The Gleichenhaus Family visited Fort McHenry (just outside of Baltimore, MD), site of the original Star Spangled Banner, in April 2012.
Arriving at Fort McHenry on a gorgeous day, around 5pm, with the flap pole, ramparts and fort buildings in clear view. Beyond the fort is Baltimore Harbor where the battle chronicled in our National Anthem took place.
“…O’r the rampart we watched were so gallantly streaming…”
My husband Charlie with the ramparts, the flag and the Singable Picture Book.
My son Mo on the spot where the original Star-Spangled Banner (now preserved in the Smithsonian Museum of American History) flew and remained flying through the perilous fight.
**********************
On April 3, 2012, we participated in wonderful ceremony with large flag curated by a fabulous National Park Ranger.
Pictures of the Star-Spangled Banner Singable Picture Book with flag ceremony curated by a wonderful National Park Ranger on April 3, 2012 at Fort McHenry
Above, the ranger is holding the flag we will open up, holding the edges and working together as a group.
Above, the Ranger is telling the story of the Defense of Fort McHenry and how the poem by Francis Scott Key became our National Anthem.
At the end of the ceremony, our fabulous Ranger played The Star-Spangled Banner on the fife,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMzLmK6p3H0
**********************
April 3, 2012
My children Eloise and Mo with the Ranger after his fantastic presentation when the flag was once again respectfully folded,
**********************
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o’r the land of the free and the home of the brave? YES! It does! And, here it is flying proudly still on April 3, 2012,
**********************
6/21/2012
A comment from a reader regarding words sung to John Stafford Smith’s tune BEFORE the tune was used for Francis Scott Key’s poem (which, of course, we know became the National Anthem):
Reader commented on Star Spangled Banner on Antiques Roadshow
A most familiar tune, before Mr. F. Scott Key used it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9lYC0lBfkA
I wrote back saying:
Thanks for this info. I did a tiny bit of research and found Ralph Tomlinson’s words documented on the Smithsonian’s website:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/the-melody.aspx
Thank you!
**********************
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMzLmK6p3H0
The Gleichenhaus Family visited Fort McHenry (just outside of Baltimore, MD), site of the original Star Spangled Banner, in April 2012. We participated in wonderful ceremony with large flag curated by a fabulous Ranger who also played for us the Star Spangled Banner on the fife.
**********************
Related Posts
*
Star-Spangled Banner, Another Illustrated Rendition, this one from the Smithsonian Institution
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/star-spangled-banner-another-illustrated-rendition-this-one-from-the-smithsonian-institution/
*
STAR SPANGLED BANNER ON ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/star-spangled-banner-on-antiques-roadshow/
*
The Defense of Fort McHenry, written this day (September 14, 2010) 196 years ago by Francis Scott Key, became our National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/the-defense-of-fort-mchenry-written-this-day-196-years-ago-by-francis-scott-key/
*
FLAG DAY, JUNE 14
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/june-14-is-flag-day-celebrate-with-singable-picture-books/
*
FOURTH OF JULY AND OTHER HOLIDAYS CELEBRATING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HER CITIZENS AND HISTORY
A list of Singable Picture Books celebrating the Fourth of July
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/a-patriotic-list-of-singable-books-for-july-4th/
*
NATIONAL PARKS (and PRAISE for National Park Rangers)
Singable Picture Books that illustrate songs with origins in locations of United States history which are in the care of the National Park Service
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/in-praise-of-national-park-rangers/
