Lamentation over Boston, The

DESCRIPTION: "By the Rivers of Watertown we sat down & wept, we wept... when we remember'd thee, O Boston...." The singer asks God to protect Boston. "A voice was heard in Roxbury" weeping due to the threat. The singer promises not to forget the danger
AUTHOR: William Billings
EARLIEST DATE: 1778 (The SInging Master's Assistant, according to Flanders/Ballard/Brown/Barry-NewGreenMountainSongster)
KEYWORDS: war rebellion America nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Flanders/Ballard/Brown/Barry-NewGreenMountainSongster, pp. 183-184, "The Lamentation over Boston" (1 text)
NOTES [59 words]: This is largely based on Psalm 137, with its opening phrase "By the waters of Babylon" and its lyric promise three verses later, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem...." There is also an invocation of "Rachel's lament for her children," mentioned in Jer. 31:15 and quoted in Matt. 2:18.
For more about composer William Billings, see the notes to "Chester." - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: FlNG183

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