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Show -&& Banned Of all the war songs our fathers sang "The Star Spangled Manner" has probably prob-ably taken the deepen and atrongeat hold on the national affection. The older the nation growa the more popular popu-lar this aong becomes, so that today It la undoubtedly In more fnvor thsn either "Yankee Doodle" or "America," Many competent experts on national hymns and music have declared that "The Star Spangled Ilanner" Is par excellence, the American national song, It Is all American. There Is not a line In It which la borrowed from any other nation. It Is aa purely American Am-erican as "The Marsellalie" It French, or as "Ilute Urltannla" Is English. Like "The Marsellalse" It waa born In the Inspiration ot a battle hour. It waapltchcd to tho keynote ot a screaming scream-ing shell, written In the very heart ot a fight. It may almost bo aald to have written Itself out ot the circumstances that surrounded the writer. It was a literal photognph In verse ot the scene on which hla e)cs were looking as he penned Its Immortal lines, Tho story of jt production Is as romantic ro-mantic ns anything lu the history ot war literature. Francis Scott Key, the son of John Hois Key, a revolutlu'iary officer, had gone on board the Urltl.li admiral's flagship, 'The Surprise," In Chesapeake bay, under a flag of truce, In order to try and save a friend, Dr. Ileanes, on Sept. 13, 1814. The Ilrltlsh fleet, under Admiral Oockburn, began the bombardment of the Daltlmore forts on that day, and ho declined to allow Key to depart. The bombardment bombard-ment went on far Into the night, and when the morning came young Koy strained his eyes to see whether Fort McIIenry had been surrendered. Suddenly Sud-denly a rift appeared In the smoke and mist enveloping the fort, and through It Key saw that tho flag was still waving wav-ing over It. Instantly tho great son! waa born. He aat right down on thi deck of tho Ilrltlah admiral's flagahl; and began writing: "Oh, say, can you see, by tho dawa'i early light. What so proudly we hall'd at the twilight's twi-light's last glaamlngt" The worda were aet to mualo aoon atter.and the aong Immediately bocamt popular and within a week waa bclna, aung In all the American campa and al the theaters as well. Key wrote many other poems, and they were published In a volume In 1856, thirteen years after his death. He was 31 years of age when he wroti "The Star Spangled Ilanner," and, though all la other venes are forgotten, forgot-ten, thla ono will keep his memory green as long as our republic lasts. He was burled In tho llttlo cemetery at Frederick, Md and a star-spangled banner la appropriately kept waving over hla grave all the year round aa fast as one flag fades It Is replaced by a new one. |