On 2/22/00 at 2:49 PM, Jarvisb at timken.com (Jarvis, Robert P. (Contingent))
thoughtfully wrote:

> Francis Scott Key, as fine a musical plagiarist as ever there was, borrowed
> the tune for a little ditty he wrote while in prison, observing the
> bombardment of a fort near (IIRC) Baltimore during the War of 1812.  

I'm not sure the Key wrote to any tune. I believe he wrote and published it as a
poem which was published and later set to music.

He viewed the bombardment of Fr. McHenry from the deck of British warship where
he was detained while attempting to work out an exchange of prisoners.

There is a hilarious skit by Garrison Kealer on a "Prairie Home Companion" CD
(complete with sound-effects and Key's publisher attempting to write: "The Star
Spangled Banner -- TWO!!!!" that's worth hearing.

As for me, I've always wanted "America the Beautiful" as the US national anthem
if only for the line "confirm thy soul with self-control/thy liberty through
law" which would have given some of the folks in government, like Mr North,
pause for reflection from time to time.

Oh gee......on to syntax

ab