Old Granite State, The

DESCRIPTION: "We have come from the mountains (x3) From the Old Granite State; With a band of music (x3) We are passing 'round the world." The song introduces the singers, their state of New Hampshire, and their progressive ideas
AUTHOR: Elaborated, and probably written, by the Hutchinson Family
EARLIEST DATE: 1843 (sheet music published by firth & Hall of New York)
KEYWORDS: nonballad home family drink
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia1, pp. 13-15 "The Old Granite State" (1 text)
Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 304, "The Old Granite State" (1 text plus a copy of the sheet music cover)
DT, GRANITST*
Roud #V36573
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1843 391270, "The Old Granite State," Firth and Hall (New York), 1843 (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Ratification Song (celebrating the nomination of Winfield Scott as the Whig presidential candidate for 1852) (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 328)
NOTES [162 words]: The Hutchinson Family, according to Spaeth (A History of Popular Music in America, p. 95) used this song to introduce their act and their family.
The Digital Tradition says that the verse, "Yes, we're friends of Emancipation And we'll sing the Proclamation" is "an obvious later addition." This is not as clear as it sounds. It was Lincoln who put the two words together -- but the Hutchinsons were campaigning for emancipation (and other liberal causes such as temperance) well before the Civil War. The exact wording may date from 1862, but the family certainly was proclaiming abolition by the 1840s -- and would have felt Lincoln's half-emancipation completely inadequate.
The family's own history, by Joshua Hutchinson, credits the song to Jesse Hutchinson (the ninth child of Jesse Sr. and Mary Hutchinson), though the sheet music lists the whole family and is copyrighted by John (child #13; all told, the parents had 19 children, 16 of whom survived infancy). - RBW
Last updated in version 5.1
File: DTgranit

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