Thursday, May 04, 2006

Immigrants and Flag Waving

The two can sometimes be mutually exclusive, but I found this scene striking. The cemetery containing heroes and heroines of the revolution in Carmel, NY is in the middle of a small grouping of houses inhabited by Mexican immigrants. I ran them together in a slide show with a Revolutionary era midi from a great site, contemplator.com.
Here's some background on the song, "Free America":These words are by Dr. Joseph Warren, of Boston. Warren was one of the original Minute Men. Warren was Chairman of the Committee of Safety in Boston in 1775 and the man who sent Paul Revere to Lexington to warn John Adams and John Hancock of the British advance, setting Revere off on his famous ride. Warren was commissioned a Major General by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Warren set the words to the English song British Grenadiers. The origin of that tune is unknown and variants have become popular several times. The commonly known words cannot predate 1678, as that was when the regiment was created. William Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time places the tune in the Elizabethan era, but notes that the current words and music for British Grenadiers were found on a manuscript of the 18th century. Here's the karoake slide show

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