Larkin thinks there is a gap before the last five lines of the third stanza.

Page 163. GRANDMOTHER'S STORY OF BUNKER-HILL BATTLE. Concerning this poem, Dr. Holmes himself says:

"The story of Bunker Hill battle is told as literally in accordance with the best authorities as it would have been if it had been written in prose instead of in verse. I have often been asked what steeple it was from which the little group I speak of looked upon the conflict. To this I answer that I am not prepared to speak authoritatively, but that the reader may take his choice among all the steeples standing at that time in the northern part of the city. Christ Church in Salem Street is the one I always think of, but I do not insist upon its claim. As to the personages who made up the small company that followed the old corporal, it would be hard to identify them, but by ascer taining where the portrait by Copley is now to be found, some light may be thrown on their personality."

It has been pointed out that the belfry could hardly have been that of Christ Church, since tradition has it that General Gage himself watched the battle from that vantage point.

The poem was first published in 1875, in connection with the centenary of the battle which it describes.

Page 167. THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. This popular" ballad was written and printed as a broadside for the purpose of encouraging recruiting for the English army. There are many versions of it, as well as parodies composed by Yankee sympathizers,

Page 169. 'T was then he took his gloomy way. Washington's journey was, as a matter of fact, a kind of triumph.

Page 169. Lawyer Close. Washington's aide, Major Lee.

Page 170. Like Esop's greedy cur. Fable 118. A dog crossing a rivulet, with a piece of meat in his mouth, saw his own shadow; and believing it to be another dog with a larger piece of meat, snatched at it, with the result that he lost his own piece.

Page 173. A POEM CONTAINING SOME REMARKS ON THE PRESENT WAR, etc., is from Poems upon Several Occasions, viz. | I. A POEM on the Enemy's first coming to Boston; the burning of Charles- town; the Fight at Bunker-Hill, &c. | II. The WIDOW's Lamentation. III. Nebuchadnezzar's DREAM. | IV. Against OPPRESSION. | V. An heroic POEM on the taking of Gen. | Burgoyne, &c. | Boston: Printed for the AUTHOR, 1779. It is an 8vo of sixteen pages, the first poem being printed in double column. A note at the end of the volume is signed "A Friend to Liberty."

Page 176. EMANCIPATION FROM BRITISH DEPENDENCE. The following explanatory note is from Duyckinck's edition of Freneau :

"Sir James Wallace, Admiral Graves, and Captain Montague were British naval officers, employed on our coast. The Viper and Rose were vessels in the service. Lord Dunmore, the

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last Royal governor of Virginia, had recently, in April, 1775, removed the public stores from Williamsburg, and, in conjunction with a party of adherents, supported by the naval force on the station, was making war on the province. William Tryon, the last Royal governor of New York, discerning the signs of the times, took refuge on board the Halifax packet in the harbor, and left the city in the middle of October, 1775."

Page 177. Rodney, who was one of the Delaware delegates to the Continental Congress, had obtained leave of absence for a journey through the southern part of the state to prepare the people for a change of government. His colleagues, Thomas McKean and George Read, were divided on the question, and the former, knowing Rodney to be favorable to the declaration, sent him a message urging his return. By great exertion Rodney arrived just in time for the final discussion, and his affirmative vote secured the consent of the Delaware delegation to the declaration, and effected that unanimity among the colonies which was essential to the success of the measure.

Page 180. THE AMERICAN PATRIOT'S PRAYER. This poem was formerly ascribed to Thomas Paine, but recent authority has rejected this on the basis of internal evidence.

Page 183. THE MARYLAND BATTALION. At the opening of the Revolution, the young men of Baltimore organized the Baltimore Independent Company," and elected Mordecai Gist captain. This was afterwards increased to a battalion, of which Gist was appointed major. The battalion checked the advance of Cornwallis at the battle of Long Island, and saved a portion of Stirling's command from capture. Two hundred and fifty-nine were left dead on the field.

Page 183. Grant. The British general who commanded the left wing. He had declared in the House of Commons that the Americans would not fight, and that he could march from one end of the continent to the other with five thousand men.

Page 183. Stirling. William Alexander, commonly called Lord Stirling, eldest son of James Alexander Stirling, who had fled to America upon the discovery of the Jacobite conspiracy of 1715.

Page 184. Knowlton. Thomas Knowlton, lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of rangers selected from the Connecticut troops. He was killed at the battle of Harlem Heights, as was Major Leitch, who had been sent to his aid.

Page 185. NATHAN HALE. Nathan Hale was a great-grandson of John Hale, first minister of Beverly, Massachusetts. He was born in 1755, and graduated from Yale in 1773. Little is known of his personal history.

Page 188. TRENTON AND PRINCETON. From McCarty's "National Song Book," iii, 88. McCarty says it was written from the dictation of an old lady who had heard it sung during the Revolution.

Page 204. LORD NORTH'S RECANTATION.

These verses were written by "a gentleman of Chester," England, and first appeared in the "London Evening Post."

Page 205. GENERAL HOWE'S LETTER. From Upcott, v, 45.

Page 208. BRITISH VALOR DISPLAYED; OR, THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS. This ballad was occasioned by a real incident. Certain machines in the form of kegs, charged with gunpowder, were sent down the river to annoy the British shipping then at Philadelphia. The danger of these machines being discovered, the British manned the wharfs and shipping and discharged their small-arms and cannons at everything they saw floating in the river during the ebb tide. - Author's note.

David Bushnell, inventor of the American torpedo, constructed the machines, which were so arranged as to explode on coming in contact with anything. Hopkinson's verses, which swept from colony to colony, did much to relieve the strain of those early months of 1778, and were perhaps worth as much, in tonic and inspiration, as the winning of a battle would have been.

Page 208. Sir William. Sir William Howe, commanding the British army.

Page 208. Mrs. Loring. Wife of Joshua Loring, the notorious commissary of prisoners. Page 208. Sir Erskine. Sir William Erskine.

Page 214. King Hancock at their head. John Hancock commanded the second line of Massachusetts militia in this movement.

Page 214. Bold Pigot. Sir Robert Pigot commanded the British forces in Rhode Island.

Page 216. BETTY ZANE. Elizabeth Zane was about eighteen years of age at the time she performed this exploit, and had just returned to Fort Henry from Philadelphia, where she had completed her education. She lived until 1847.

Page 216. Betty's brothers. Ebenezer and Silas.

Page 217. THE WYOMING MASSACRE. This ballad was printed, apparently for the first time, in Charles Miner's History of Wyoming" (Philadelphia, 1845), where it is stated that it was written shortly after the tragedy by Mr. "Uriah Terry, of Kingston." In McCarty's "National Song Book" (iii, 344) it is said to have been written " by a person then resident near the field of battle."

Page 219. THE CRUISE OF THE FAIR AMERICAN. The war song of the Salem Privateersmen during the Revolution, and preserved in Griswold's manuscript collection of "American Historical Ballads." It was taken down from the mouths of Hawthorne's surviving shipmates early in the last century.

Page 219. Bold Hawthorne. Daniel Hawthorne, grandfather of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Page 223. THE YANKEE MAN-OF-War. This, one of the very best of American seasongs, was first published by Commodore Luce, in his collection of Naval Songs." He states that it was taken down from the recitation of a sailor. Internal evidence would indicate that

it was composed by a member of the Ranger's

crew.

Page 224. PAUL JONES-A NEW SONG. This is Number 613, vol. iii, of the Roxburghe collection of broadsides.

Page 224. As Green, Jemmy Twitcher. Captain Green was a noted pirate, and Jemmy Twitcher was the name given to the notorious John, Lord Sandwich.

Page 224. Pierce. Captain Richard Pearson. He was knighted as a reward for his fight with Jones. The latter remarked, upon hearing of it, "Should I fall in with him again, I'll make a lord of him."

Page 225. The Alliance bore down and the Richard did rake. The Alliance was commanded by Pierre Landais, a Frenchman, and his aetions have never been satisfactorily explained. He had held his ship aloof at the opening of the battle, disregarding Jones's orders, but came up later only to pour three or four broadsides into the Richard, killing or wounding many of her crew and almost sinking her. She then drew off and awaited the result of the battle.

Page 225. Full forty guns Serapis bore. She really carried fifty against the Richard's fortytwo. Besides, she was a new frigate, only four months out, while the Richard was old and unseaworthy. The Serapis carried 320 men, the Richard 304.

Page 226. Bold Pallas soon the Countess took. The Countess of Scarborough struck to the Pallas after a gallant two hours' battle.

Page 226. In the Hyder Ali. Hyder Ali was an Indian prince who defeated the English in 1767 and subsequently caused them so much annoyance that he was very popular with American patriots.

Page 229. The Hope. The ship Hope and the brig Constance, which were with the South Carolina, were also taken.

Page 229. Sir Henry Clinton. Clinton was left in command of New York city, when Howe started on his expedition for the capture of Philadelphia.

Page 230. Braving the death that his heart foretold. Wayne was convinced that he would not survive the attack on Stony Point, but nevertheless led the assault in person. He was struck in the head by a bullet, but insisted on being borne into the fort with his men.

Page 232. THE MODERN JONAS. A pasquinade printed as a broadside and stuck up in New York city. "Old Knyp" was General Knyphausen; Old Clip," General Robertson; and Yankee Farms," Connecticut Farms.

Page 233. THE COW-CHACE. The last canto of this poem was published in "Rivington's Royal Gazette " on the day that André was captured. These are the only verses he is known to have published. The original copy is still in existence, and has the following stanza upon it, under André's signature:

When the epic strain was sung,
The poet by the neck was hung,
And to his cost he finds too late
The dung-born tribe decides his fate.

The poem was afterwards published by Rivington as an 8vo of 69 pages.

The Cow-Chace," in its early editions, had the following explanatory notes:

Tanner: General Wayne's legal occupation. Mumps: A disorder prevalent in the Rebel lines.

Yan Van Poop: Who kept a dram-shop. Jade: A New England name for a horse, mare, or gelding.

Bodies: A cant appellation given among the soldiery to the corps that have the honor to guard his majesty's person.

Cunningham: Provost-Marshal of New York.
The shot will not go thro':

Five Refugees ('t is true) were found
Stiff on the block-house floor,

But then 't is thought the shot went round,
And in at the back door.

Frost-bit Alexander: Earl of Stirling.
The frantic priest: Caldwell, a minister at
Elizabethtown.

One pretty marquis: Lafayette, a French coxcomb in the rebel service.

Page 237. John Paulding. Paulding was born in New York city in 1758 and died in 1818. His capture of André was his one famous exploit. With him at the time were two comrades, named Isaac Van Wart and David Williams. They were given medals by Congress and an annuity of two hundred dollars.

Page 239. And then, at last, a transatlantic grave. In 1821 André's remains were removed to England and placed in Westminster Abbey. Page 240. Sir Hal. Sir Henry Clinton. Page 241. Congo. The American Congress. Page 242. The reverend Mather. Moses Mather, D.D.

Page 245. HYMN OF THE MORAVIAN NUNS OF BETHLEHEM. The banner of Pulaski's legion was embroidered by the Moravian sisters of Bethlehem, who helped to support their house by needlework. It is preserved in the cabinet of the Maryland Historical Society at Baltimore.

Page 245. Martial cloak and shroud for thee. The banner was made to be carried on a lance and was only twenty inches square. It could not have been used as a shroud.

Page 246. Brave Maitland push'd in. Colonel Maitland brought a large body of British troops from Beaufort to Prevost's aid.

Page 246. Moncrieffe. Major Moncrieff was the engineer who planned Savannah's defences.

Page 246. Who attempted to murder his king. In 1771 Pulaski attempted to kidnap Stanislaus, King of Poland.

Page 250. South Mount. Sumter's home near Camden, South Carolina.

Page 259. Two birds of his feather. Howe and Burgoyne.

Page 259. Poor Charley. Cornwallis. Page 260. A murder'd Hayne. Isaac Hayne, hanged by the British, August 4, 1781.

Page 262. And Whitehead. William Whitehead, poet laureate 1751-1785.

Page 263. Thus he. Cincinnatus.

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Page 269. No taxes we'll pay. Shays and his followers denranded decreased taxes and a paper currency.

Page 269. Here's a pardon for Wheeler, Shays, Parsons, and Day. Wheeler, Parsons, and Day were associates of Shays. All of them fled from the state, but were afterwards pardoned.

Page 271. So they went to Federal Street. The convention was held in a church on Long Lane, which was afterwards christened Federal Street in honor of the event.

Page 273. THE FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS. From "The Columbiad."

Page 274. THE VOW OF WASHINGTON. Read in New York, April 30, 1889, at the centennial celebration of Washington's inauguration.

Page 276. ADAMS AND LIBERTY. Mr. Charles Prentiss, in his preface to the collected works of Robert Treat Paine, published at Boston in 1812, gives the following account of the writing of "Adams and Liberty":

"In June, 1798, at the request of the 'Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society,' Mr. Paine wrote his celebrated political song of Adams and Liberty. It may appear singular that politics should have any connection with an institution of benevolence: but the great object of the anniversary being to obtain charitable donations, the more various and splendid were the attractions, the more crowded the attendance: and of course, the more ample the accumulation for charity.

There was, probably, never a political song more sung in America than this; and one of more poetical merit was, perhaps, never written: an anecdote deserves notice respecting one of the best stanzas in it. Mr. Paine had written all he intended; and being in the house of Major Russell, editor of the Centinel,' showed him the verses. It was highly approved, but pronounced imperfect; as Washington was omitted. The sideboard was replenished, and Paine was about to help himself; when Major Russell familiarly interfered, and insisted, in his humorous manner, that he should not slake his thirst till he had written an additional stanza, in which Washington should be introduced. Paine marched back and forth a few minutes, and suddenly starting, called for a pen. He immediately wrote the following sublime stanza [the one beginning "Should the tempest of war overshadow our land"].

"The sale of this song yielded him a profit of about seven hundred and fifty dollars. It was read by all; and there was scarcely in New England, a singer, that could not sing this song. Nor was its circulation confined to New England: it was sung at theatres, and on public and private occasions, throughout the United States; and republished and applauded in Great Britain."

Page 277. HAIL COLUMBIA. The following letter from Joseph Hopkinson, son of Francis Hopkinson, is quoted by Rev. R. W. Griswold, in his "Poets and Poetry of America":

"It["Hail Columbia "I was written in the summer of 1798, when war with France was thought

to be inevitable. Congress was then in session in Philadelphia, deliberating upon that important subject, and acts of hostility had actually taken place. The contest between England and France was raging, and the people of the United States were divided into parties for the one side or the other, some thinking that policy and duty required us to espouse the cause of republican France, as she was called; while others were for connecting ourselves with England, under the belief that she was the great preservative power of good principles and safe government. The violation of our rights by both belligerents was forcing us from the just and wise policy of President Washington, which was to do equal justice to both, to take part with neither, but to preserve a strict and honest neutrality between them. The prospect of a rupture with France was exceedingly offensive to the portion of the people who espoused her cause, and the violence of the spirit of party has never risen higher, I think not so high, in our country, as it did at that time, upon that question. The theatre was then open in our city. A young man belonging to it, whose talent was as a singer, was about to take his benefit. I had known him when he was at school. On this acquaintance, he called on me one Saturday afternoon, his benefit being announced for the following Monday. His prospects were very disheartening; but he said that if he could get a patriotic song adapted to the tune of the 'President's March,' he did not doubt of a full house; that the poets of the theatrical corps had been trying to accomplish it, but had not succeeded. I told him I would try what I could do for him. The object of the author was to get up an American spirit, which should be independent of and above the interests, passions, and policy of both belligerents: and look and feel exclusively for our own honour and rights. No allusion is made to France or England, or the quarrel between them: or to the question, which was most at fault in their treatment of us: of course the song found favour with both parties, for both were Americans; at least neither could disavow the sentiments and feelings it inculcated."

Page 278. YE SONS OF COLUMBIA: AN ODE. From "Original Poems by Thomas Green Fessenden, Esq., author of Terrible Tractoration, or Caustic's Petition to the Royal College of Physicians, and Democracy Unveiled. Philadelphia: Printed at the Lorenzo Press of E. Bronson. 1806." The following note to this poem appears in the first edition: "The above Ode was written, set to musick, and sung on a publick occasion in Rutland, Vermont, July, 1798. At that time the armament, which afterwards sailed to Egypt, under Buonaparte, lay at Toulon its destination was not known in America, but many supposed that it was intended to waft the blessings of French Liberty to the United States." Fessenden seems to have been possessed of an acute hatred of the French, due, perhaps, to his residence in England. Three other poems in this little book are

devoted to denouncing Napoleon, the Jacobins, and the "sans culotte"-of which latter phrase he was singularly fond.

Page 283. So the common sailor died. James did not die. He recovered from his wounds, served through the second war with England and lived till about 1840.

Page 283. SKIPPER IRESON'S RIDE. Whittier heard the story of Skipper Ireson in 1828, when he was a student at Haverhill Academy. It was told him by a schoolmate from Marblehead, and he began at once to write the ballad, but it was not published until 1857, when it appeared in the second number of the "Atlantie Monthly."

Mr. Samuel Roads, Jr., in his "History of Marblehead," contended that Ireson was in no way responsible for the abandonment of the disabled ship, and Whittier, in writing to Mr. Roads, says: "I have now no doubt that thy version of Skipper Ireson's ride is the correct one. My verse was founded solely on a fragment of rhyme which I heard from one of my early schoolmates, a native of Marblehead. I supposed the story to which it referred dated back at least a century. I knew nothing of the participants, and the narrative of the ballad was pure fancy. I am glad for the sake of truth and justice that the real facts are given in thy book. I certainly would not knowingly do injustice to any one, dead or living."

The use of dialect in the refrain was suggested by Lowell, the editor of the "Atlantic at the time.

Page 285. THE TIMES. McCarty's “National Song Book " (Philadelphia, 1861) is a real treasure-house of ballads written during the second war with England. "The Times" is from this source, as are many of the other ballads quoted here.

Page 287. HULL'S SURRENDER. This ballad was copied from a broadside in the possession of the library of Harvard University. It is so tattered that one stanza, the last, is indecipherable and had to be omitted.

Page 289. Commanded by Dacres the grandee O. Captain (afterward Rear-Admiral of the Red) James Richard Dacres.

Page 292. Where Brock, the proud insulter, rides. Sir Isaac Brock. He had received Hull's surrender less than two months before. He was pierced by three bullets as he led his troops into battle at Queenstown and died where he fell.

Page 298. Brave Chauncey. Captain Isaac Chauncey.

Page 302. We mourn, indeed, a hero lost! Captain William Burrows, of the Enterprise, and Captain Blythe, of the Boxer, both fell during the action, and were buried side by side at Portland.

Page 303. And whether like Yeo, boys, they'd taken affright. Sir James Lucas Yeo, who had been defeated by Captain Isaac Chauncey and was afterwards blockaded by him in Kingston Harbor.

Page 304. Thought it best from his well-pep

pered ship to depart. The Lawrence was so severely shot up early in the action, that Perry transferred his flag to the Niagara. He afterwards returned to the Lawrence to receive the surrender of the surviving British officers.

Page 306. And Tecumseh fell prostrate before him. The honor of having killed Tecumseh was claimed for Colonel Richard Malcolm Johnston, but the claim was never conclusively established.

Page 306. Walbach. John Batiste de Barth, Baron de Walbach, a German veteran who had come to America on a visit in 1798. He enlisted in the American army, won steady promotion, and died in 1857 with the rank of brigadier-general.

Page 309. Four gallant ships. The Ramillies 74, commanded by Sir Thomas Hardy; the Pactolus 38, the Despatch 22, and a bombship.

Page 313. Downie. George Downie, commander of the British fleet. He was killed during the action.

Page 313. Macomb. General Alexander Macomb, in command of the American land force. His army, consisting of about fifteen hundred regulars and some detachments of militia, was greatly outnumbered by the British.

Page 315. To serve me just like Drummond. Sir Gordon Drummond, who lost a large part of his force by the explosion of a mine, while assaulting Fort Erie.

Page 315. Old Ross, Cockburn, and Cochrane too. Robert Ross, selected by Wellington to command the troops sent to this country in 1814. He was killed while leading the advance toward Baltimore, after having sacked Washington. Sir George Cockburn, second in command of the fleet, who had become notorious for his raids along the American coast. Sir Alexander Cochrane, in command of the British fleet on the American station.

Page 315. General Winder. General William Henry Winder, in command of the American militia at the battle of Bladensburg.

Page 317. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. The poem was really written at white heat, for Key made his first draft while the fight was actually in progress, and corrected it at Baltimore next day. It was at once struck off as a broadside, and was received with great enthusiasm. The air, from which it is inseparable, was selected almost at random, from a volume of flute music, by an actor named Ferdinand Durang, and was known as Anacreon in Heaven. Additional stanzas have been written for the poem from time to time, but none of them are in any way notable except those written during the Civil War by Oliver Wendell Holmes:

When our land is illuminèd with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor who dares to defile
The flag of her stars and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained

Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

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Page 321. Take our wounded and our dead. The American loss was two killed and seven wounded, while the British lost 120 killed and 180 wounded.

Page 323. For I went down with Carroll. William Carroll, major-general of Tennessee militia.

Page 324. 'Twas Pakenham in person. Sir Edward Michael Pakenham. He had succeeded Ross in the command of Wellington's veterans, and, like his predecessor, was killed while leading his men against the enemy.

Page 325. And came, with Gibbs to head it. Sir Samuel Gibbs, second in command to Pakenham.

Page 325. It is the Baratarian. The headquarters of Jean Lafitte, the freebooter, at Barataria, had been broken up only a short time before, and many of his band captured and imprisoned. They were subsequently released, and under three of Lafitte's lieutenants, Dominique, You, and Bluche, hastened to Jackson's aid before New Orleans, where they did good service, especially with the artillery.

Page 325. Keane was sorely wounded. Baron John Keane, in command of the third brigade.

Page 327. Our captain. Charles Stewart. He held the remarkable record of being seventy-one years in the service, and senior officer for seventeen years. He lived until 1869. His daughter was the mother of Charles Stewart Parnell.

Page 335. Oyo. The Indian name for the Ohio.

Page 337. Blanny. A popular corruption of Blennerhassett.

Page 337. Our General brave. Major-General Buell.

Page 337. I have the Baron in my head. The only system of military tactics then in use among the officers in the western country was that of Baron Steuben.

Page 337. The Deputy. Governor Return Jonathan Meigs.

Page 338. 'Twas half a kneel of Indian meal. A kneel is equal to two quarts.

Page 338. Tyler, they say, lies at Belpré. Comfort Tyler was one of Burr's chief lieuten

ants.

Page 338. The Cor'ner. Joel Bowen. Page 338. Instead of sword, he seized his board. Buell was a tailor by trade.

Page 343. Good Junipero. Father Junipero Serra, the famous head of the missionaries in California.

Page 343. The Visitador. José de Galvez, Visitador General of New Spain.

Page 344. Viscaino. Sebastian Viscaino, who conducted a Spanish exploring expedition along the California coast in 1602-03.

Page 345. "THE DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE." Half a century ago, this song was widely popular, and yet to-day it is almost impossible to find an authentic copy. There is a version in Upham's "Notes of a Voyage to California," but it is anything but convincing. The version given here was contributed to "Out West" by