Songs Every Child Should Know - online book

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	eral countries — England,* America, Prussia, and others. The authorship has never been satisfactorily settled, but the strongest claim is that of Henry Carey. It was written sometime between 1736 and 1740. Several sets of words are appended, also the best fugitive stanza. The author of the American words was celebrated delightfully by Oliver Wendell Holmes, who wrote: • " And there 's a nice fellow of excellent pith, — Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith, But he shouted a song for the brave and the free, — Just read on his medal, ' My country, of thee 1'" Words by Samuel Francis Smith.

	Let music swell the breeze, And ring among the trees Sweet freedom's song. Let mortal tongues awake, Let all that breathe partake, Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. * Of the popular words to the English hymn, Gilbert wrote: " Like the Banbury Lady, whom every one knows, He's [The Briton] cursed with its music where'er he goes. Though its words but imperfectly rhyme, And the devil himself could n't scan them, With composure polite, he endures day and night That illiterate National Anthem."