12 months ago
GLEN BURNIE, Md. (WUSA) -- Fourth graders at the Glen Burnie Park Elementary School are preparing for the possibility they might be called to testify before legislators at the Maryland State House in a debate over song lyrics that are being defended by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The children are in the news after writing letters to legislators protesting the lyrics of the state song, Maryland My Maryland, a living relic of civil war history still sung at major events such as the Preakness. Among other things, the song written in 1861, declares Abraham Lincoln is a "despot" and rails against "Northern scum".
Singing the song is the musical equivalent of flying the confederate flag, according to some critics.
The letters got the attention of State Del. Pamela Beidle, D-Anne Arundel, who helped introduce a bill to change the lyrics to a tamer 1891 version.
Defenders of the song say include Donald Beck, Maryland division commander for the Tennessee-based Sons of Confederate Veterans,
"Lincoln hardly got any votes in Maryland in 1860, so the song reflected the sentiments of Marylanders at the time," Beck told the Examiner newspaper. "If you changed everything based on current attitudes, you'd have to rewrite all of the history books."
Hearings on the bills to change the lyrics have not been scheduled yet.
The lyrics are as follows:
Maryland, My Maryland
I
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
His torch is at thy temple door,
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
My Mother State! to thee I kneel,
For life or death, for woe or weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Come with thy panoplied array,
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And sing thy dauntless slogan song,
VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Virginia should not call in vain,
She meets her sisters on the plain-
Sic semper! 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back amain,
Arise in majesty again,
VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek,
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the shot, the blade, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the Soul,
IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
The Old Line bugle, fife, and drum,
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! She burns! She'll come! She'll come!
9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com
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