On the Shores of Havana

DESCRIPTION: "Many hearts were filled with sorrow and with sadness, Many hearts were torn with anguish and pain... for the heroes of our battleship, the 'Maine.'" A brief account of the destruction of the Maine, with comments about the lives of the sailors killed
AUTHOR: Andrew B. Sterling
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (broadsides & songbooks)
KEYWORDS: sea disaster ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1895 - Cubans rebel against Spain
Feb 15, 1898 - Explosion of the battleship "Maine" in Havana harbor
April 25, 1898 - Congress declares war on Spain
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE,SE) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 21, "On the Shores of Havana" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 235, "The Battleship Maine (I)" (1 text)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, p. 195, "The Battleship, The Maine" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC021 (Partial)
Roud #4615
RECORDINGS:
Vince Ledwell, "Battleship Maine" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away" (tune & meter)
cf. "My Sweetheart Went Down with the Maine" (subject) and references there
NOTES [67 words]: For background on the loss of the Maine, and the war that followed, see the notes to "My Sweetheart Went Down with the Maine."
Andrew B. Sterling is best known for writing the words to "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis" and "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie"; also "Strike Up the Band (Here Comes a Sailor)," "Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown (What You Goin' to Do When the Rent Comes 'Round?)," and others. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: FSC021

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