Improper use of our National Anthem?

[A Joseph Ross]

On 6/25/2011 8:22 PM, Donna Halper wrote:

> On 6/25/2011 6:11 PM, Bill O'Neill (billo@shoreham.net) wrote:
>> Former drinking song? Perhaps a wee bit of a stretch, Garrett.
>
> No, Garrett is 100% correct.  The melody was chosen because it was a 
> well-known song used in the finest taverns in England (and thus in the 
> US, since we had been a former British colony).

Well, it was initially the song of the Anacreontic Society of London, 
which sang the song at the end of its dinner meetings.  It moved from 
there to the taverns.  Not only was it well known in America, it had 
been used for a number of political campaign songs, the best-known of 
which is the Federalist song "To Adams and Liberty."

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A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                     617.367.0468
92 State Street, Suite 700          Fax: 617.507.7856
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