How Stands the Glass Around

"How Stands the Glass Around", also referred to as "General Wolfe's Song", is an english folk song.[1] The lyrics express the suffering of soldiers, wherefore the song was primarily popular among people serving in the military.[2] It deals with the helplessness experienced during war and the boldness demanded in the military, but also about reducing fear and pain by consuming alcohol.[1] One historian reported that it was the favourite song of Alexander Hamilton.[3]

Background
James Wolfe

The song was first recorded in 1729.[1][2][4] It became infamous when Wolfe is reported to have sung the song before the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759), thus the alternative title General Wolfe's Song.[1][2][4]

Lyrics

How stands the glass around
For shame, ye take no care, my boys
How stands the glass around
Let mirth and wine abound
The trumpets sound
The colours flying are, my boys
To fight, kill or wound
May we still be found
Content with our hard fare, my boys
On the cold, cold ground

Why, soldiers, why
Should we be melancholy, boys
Why, soldiers, why
Whose business ’tis to die
What sighing fie
Damn fear, drink on, be jolly boys
’Tis he, you and I
Cold, hot, wet, or dry
We’re always bound to follow, boys
And scorn to fly

’Tis but in vain
I mean not to upbraid you, boys
’Tis but in vain
For soldiers to complain
Should next campaign
Send us to Him that made you, boys
We’re free from pain
But should we remain
A bottle and kind landlady
Cures all again[1]

Recordings
  • John Townley. "How Stands the Glass Around".
  • Ben Walker. "How Stands the Glass Around".
  • Rex Rideout. "How Stands the Glass Around".

Sources
  1. W. Chappell (1838), A Collection of National English Airs, Consisting of Ancient Song, Ballad, & Dance Tunes, Interspersed with Remarks and Anecdote, and Preceded by an Essay on English Minstrelsy, p. 48
  2. "The Country 'squire: together with How stands the glass". americanantiquarian.org. American Antiquarian Society.
  3. Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, ed. (April 1955), "What Was Hamilton's "Favorite Song"?", The William and Mary Quarterly (in German), Vol. 12 (2), pp. 298-307, doi:10.2307/1920510
  4. Brandon Fisichella (2017-10-12). "The Soldier's Lament: How Stands the Glass Around?". YouTube.
  5. Stephen Carl Arch: Writing a Federalist Self: Alexander Graydon's Memoirs of a Life . In: The William and Mary Quarterly . tape 52 , no. 3 . Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, July 1995, pp. 415-432 , doi : 10.2307 / 2947293 (English).
  6. Graydon, Alexander (1846). Littell, John Stockton (ed.). Memoirs of His Own Time. With Reminiscences of the Men and Events of the Revolution. Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston. p. 164.
  7. Francis S. Drake: Dictionary of American Biography. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston 1874, p. 377
  8. Alexander Graydon. In: Penn People. University Archives and Records Center
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.