It is a special week in my home
town of Baltimore, for it marks the 200th birthday of the Star Spangled Banner. The celebration
runs the whole week, from Wednesday to Wednesday, and includes Ravens and
Oriole’s games, a mock bombardment of the fort for the kids, a huge fireworks show, tall
ships from around the world, US Navy warships, the incredible Blue Angles, and of course,
tours of Ft. McHenry, the last defensive position in the Battle of Baltimore that
withstood a forty-eight hour bombardment by the vaunted British Fleet.
Historians believe that, had
Baltimore fallen, this country would not have been.
Something to think about, eh?
Watching the Oriole game this
evening, I learned that Francis Scott Key was a lawyer, and he came to be on a British
warship to negotiate the release of an American prisoner. But the British would not
let him leave while the bombardment of Ft. McHenry was in progress. So he was
aboard an enemy ship when dawn came, and he wrote the famous words that we know
today as The National Anthem. The Star
Spangled Banner was rumored to be a poem, set later to music, but according
to Dr. David Hildebrand of the Colonial Music Institute (attribute-FoxNews.com)
the words were always meant by Key to be a song, set to the tune of The
Anacreontic Song (yeah ... I can’t pronounce it either).
“It is commonly believed that
Francis Scott Key wrote ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ as a poem that was later set
to music, but this is not the case. The structure doesn't match any poem.”
And … in case you didn't know, in
the fourth and final stanza, are the words “In God is our trust.” Seems in this
day and age of Political Correctness, where Prayer is forbidden in our schools,
and God and Faith offend the Godless, God played a mighty big role in the
formation of this country.
So we’re going to make an attempt
to brave the crowds tomorrow early, and see if we can’t find a parking place
downtown. I’m pretty sure the foray won’t be as bad as the War of 1812.
Happy Birthday, to the greatest flag
in the world.
Best Regards,
DB
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Ps. A final tidbit: The flag that flew over the fort had 15 Stars and 15 Stripes.
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