Most of the national hymns and patriotic songs were born in a time of storm and stress. Words inspired by some special happening were written on the spur of the moment, and often set to some familiar tune. _America_ was first sung to the tune of _God Save the King_ on July 4, 1832. The words of _Star Spangled Banner_ were written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812 as he watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Chesapeake Bay, and was set to an English drinking song, _Anacreon in Heaven_. _Yankee Doodle_, a song first sung to make fun of the young colonists, became the patriotic hymn of the Revolution! Where the tune came from is a mystery, but it shows a family likeness to a little Dutch nursery song, a German street song, an old English country dance, a folk tune from the Pyrenees and one from Hungary! But we love our old _Yankee Doodle_ anyhow! _Hail Columbia_ was adapted to a tune, _The President’s March_, which had accompanied Washington when he was inaugurated, in New York, as our first president. England’s _God Save the King_ was composed, words and music, by Henry Carey, and it was used first in 1743 during the Jacobite uprising. It has since served America, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. _Auld Lang Syne_ of Scotland was written by “Bobby” Burns and set to an old Scotch tune. _St. Patrick’s Day_ was originally a jig, and _The Wearing of the Green_ was a street ballad of the Irish rebellion of 1798 mourning the fact that the Irish were forbidden to wear their national emblem, the shamrock. The Welsh song _Men of Harlech_, a stirring tune, dates from 1468. The French have several thrilling national songs. If you heard _Malbrouk s’en va-t-en guerre_ (Malbrouk to war is going) you would say, “Why! that’s _For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow_.” So it is, and it has had a long and chequered career. It is supposed to have been brought into Europe by one of the Crusaders, and was lost for five centuries; it cropped up again in 1781 when Marie Antoinette sang it to put the little Dauphin (the French prince) to sleep. Paris picked up the tune and it was heard in every café and on every street corner. Napoleon who had no ear for music hummed it. It crossed the English channel. Even the Arabs sing a popular song like it which they call _Mabrooka_. Beethoven used the air in a Battle Symphony (1813). The stirring hymn of France, is the _Marseillaise_ written by Rouget de l’Isle (1792) on the eve of the Revolution. It became the marching song of the French Army and was sung during the attack on the Tuileries (Paris), the king’s palace. It has always been the Republican song of France.