Just when I think I have heard it all, I find out another "factoid" which sets me on my heels! This one concerns the fellow who wrote my national Anthem, imaginatively named "Oh Canada". Oh sure, I knew he was a Francophone, and that the first time it was ever played was at a Jean Baptiste Day party in Quebec City. American Blog readers should know that the Separatist Party in Canada, based mostly in Quebec City, always holds a bit separatist rally on St. Jean Baptist Day. Its their day to chant secessionist rhetoric and so the fact that it was first played There and Then is really kind of ironic. What I didn't know is that the author, Calixa Lavallee, though born in Montreal, moved to the USA where he joined the blue coats in the War of Northern Aggression. (as my friend D'Arcy calls it) where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant. This was through the ranks, so you just KNOW the road to promotion was paved with the bodies of those superior in rank to him. If he was a bandman, then he was also a medic and ambulance man...and would have seen the results of secessionist rhetoric up close and personal like. So it must have been a labour of love to create a "bring together" song for the "The Congrès National des Canadiens-Français". Must have...it became a national anthem.
Lavalee died in Boston in 1891, and his body was re-interned 30 years later in Montreal.
3 comments:
War of Northern Aggression... yeah, the South is still fighting that war. Can't get over the fact that we totally whooped their asses. Oh well.
That was D'Arcy that called it that!!! Texan through and through!
How interesting!
Post a Comment