| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
The National Music of America. 169
Heaven." The author is in possession of an old copy of this, which gives the above title, and also calls it "A Celebrated Jolly Song," but presents the name of neither composer nor author. We give a reprint of this rare edition after its quaint poem. The music has been ascribed to Dr. Samuel Arnold (1739-1802), composer to his Majesty's Chapel, and also to John Stafford Smith as a transcriber from the " old French air " aforesaid. The words are attributed to Ralph Tomlinson, who was, in the last half of the eighteenth century, president of the Anacreontic Society of London, a wild bacchanalian club which held its meetings at the " Crown and Anchor " in the Strand. The date of the drinking-song may be placed between 1770 and 1775. Probably at about the time that liberty had its birth, in America, the tune which was to become the chief song of freedom had its inception, in England. |
||