272
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* B.V.APWL 7,1900.
I certainly understood the question, Does
a Scotchman ever call a shilling a shieling?
to imply that an etymological connexion
between the words was looked upon as being
a possibility ; so there was nothing irrelevant
in saying that the supposition is out of the
question. If, however, MR. ADDY brings for-
ward evidence that will " nullify all previous
conclusions " including, of course, all that we
can fairly deduce from the phonetic laws of
the Scandinavian languages it will not be
becoming on my part to say any more.
WALTER W. SKEAT.
THE AUTHORSHIP OF * THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE' (9 th S. iv. 164, 231, 312, 338, 426, 502 ; v. 15). Notwithstanding the courteous edi- torial embargo upon continued discussion of this song along former lines, I yet ask per- mission to correct some errors of fact, not connected with the question of authorship, in the communications indicated by the above-given references; and also to point out what seems to me to be an almost universal misconception of the original meaning of the phrase that has given title to the song.
At the first reference C. J. G. says that while there are two Columbias the South American Union and British Columbia the United States of America was never known by such a name until this song brought it into use. The South American republic is Colombia, a different appellation, first as- sumed in 1819 ; while the distinguishing adjective in the title of our Dominion neigh- bour shows that she is a namesake and not the original Columbia. In fact, she received the designation so lately as 1858, when, from being a mere bit of the game preserve of the Hudson Bay Company and called New Cale- donia, she became a Crown colony. In passing, it may be said that the great river Columpia, to which this province gives birth, was discovered and named in 1792 by the captain of the ship Columbia, from Boston, Massachusetts. Thus early was the new republic's personification made to stand sponsor in many directions.
The introduction of the name as a poetic title for the United States is to be accredited to Dr. Timothy Dwight, afterwards President of Yale College, when, while acting as army chaplain in 1777-8, he wrote the song begin- ning
Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise.
It was then a prevision, of course, but from that time the title has never lapsed. It never had the "broad sense" suggested for it by S. J. A. F. (9 th S. iv. 502). The almost national song "Hail, Columbia! happy land," has been
in active use since Washington's first pre-
sidency, and it is not quite away from the
point to note also that the Federal district of
Jolumbia, the very nucleus of the republic,
was so named in 1791.
Again, any American child to whom was put S. J. A. F.'s rather triumphant inquiry,
What flag of America is known as the/ red, white, and blue ' 1 " would promptly point to the national ensign, and so would most of his elders, wondering at the elementary question. Generally speaking, the phrase characterizes, rather than names, the flag, but it is often used absolutely. In a child's song a soldier- boy
Bears proudly the Red, White, and Blue.
No doubt the popular lyric brought about bhe designation ; and if the name also attaches bo the British Union Jack, the custom must have the same origin. But surely the popular interpretation of the phrase is not the meaning the author had in mind when be wrote it, however he may have accepted, and even adapted, such a meaning after- wards. It is one thing to be blinded to nonsense by musical enthusiasm, and quite another deliberately to write nonsense for a musical setting. How can the "banners" that "make tyranny tremble" be borne by the banners themselves ; or how can a proudly floating flag be the boast of the same flag 1 Yet that is what appears if the phrase be taken to represent a national flag, either British or American. Surely the real mean- ing is defined in the last stanza, where
The army and navy for ever,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue !
is a single toast, not one divided between two subjects of acclaim, the army and navy- united and the flag. The colours of its uni- forms, as they long have been, are repre- sentative of the service. In the ' Shan V an Vocht ' song of 1797, when the French arrived at Bantry Bay, the cry was
What should the yeoman do But throw off the red and blue ?
Englishmen know best what significance " white " may have in this connexion, or whether it has any except to help out a taking phrase ; but as the words came from the author's pen, the red and blue, with or without white, must have meant only the British army and navy, and not the flag. Apparently, when the writer saw the popular mistake he accepted it, and afterwards, in adapting the song for American use, where " red, white, and blue " could not mean the army and navy, he retained the phrase to represent the nag, which it could designate, trusting, and not in vain, to the swing and
