The boy named Billy came running into the house one morning, full
of the joy of living and singing at the top of his voice, “O,
long may the star-spangled banner still wave, o’er the land of
the free-ee and the home of the brave.”
“Get a step-ladder, Billy. You’ll never reach that ‘land of the
free’ any other way,” advised Big Sister.
“Well, say,” said Billy grinning, “I’m not a prima donna; it
takes a real voice to climb up there. I love it, but I wish there
were not so many high places in it. Francis Scott Key never
thought of me when he wrote it, that’s sure.”
“Francis Scott Key hadn’t a thing to do with it, silly-Billy,”
said Big Sister. “How do you learn your history anyhow?”
“Well, Somebody, please tell me who did write it then?” asked
Billy. “That’s what teacher said anyway.”
“Perhaps it was not made quite clear to you, Billy Boy, that the
words only were written by Francis Scott Key. You’re not alone in
wishing that it was not quite so difficult; when I come to that
high note I always stand on tiptoe and I’ve never struck it yet,
and nine out of ten people have the same difficulty; yet I love
it, as we all do.
[Illustration: When we were at war with England]
“As to who really wrote it there seems to be no clear record,
some crediting it to Dr. Samuel Arnold, an Englishman, but others
claim it for John Stafford Smith, who made it over from an old
French composition. Anyway, it was used as a popular song in
England for some years and was used in other ways also.
“In 1798 it was used by Robert Treat Paine in a political way,
for a song called ‘Adams and Liberty.’
“Everyone knows how the words came to be written. It was in the
Summer of 1814 when we were at war with England; the British
under General Ross appeared in the vicinity of Washington and
after overcoming feeble resistance took the capital and set fire
to the White House and some other public buildings. The President
and the Cabinet fled, while pretty Dolly Madison bundled up the
most precious White House treasures, including Washington’s
picture and the original draft of the Declaration of Independence
and carried them to safety. Then the British prepared to bombard
Baltimore from the sea and attack it from the land side. Francis
Scott Key was sent with a friend to the British Fleet to get a
prisoner of war. As the British were about to attack the town
and the Fort he was not allowed to return, and you may imagine
how anxiously he watched for the dawn to come and with what joy,
when the mists rolled away that he beheld the starry banner still
flying from the fort. With the tears of thankfulness streaming
down his cheeks he wrote the first stanza of his now world-famous
song and later in the day, when he had returned to the city, he
finished the poem.
“It was first printed under the name of ‘The Bombardment of Fort
McHenry,’ in the Baltimore American and immediately became very
popular.”
“It’s a great song,” said the boy named Billy, “but I think
almost anyone could have written a great song under those
conditions--if he could write at all.”
“Yes indeed,” agreed Somebody.