August 6: Fort Henry, Ontario

Tonight Tom and I visited Fort Henry on the banks of the Kingston Bay for their Sunset Ceremony. This is the historical fort that was built on Point Henry in 1832 to protect the Rideau Waterway from attack from Lake Ontario and is part of the World Heritage site. The cast of the production are all students in the area, and they carry out the traditions of the British soldiers of the era, including executing the “thin red line” alternating standing/kneeling, firing their muskets, various marching patterns, the drum and fife corps, the artillery team moving the caissons and firing the cannons, bayonet drills as well as the highlanders marching bagpipes. Tom says the way they march was why they lost the war; when they bunch together they make a better target.

The ceremony ended with fireworks over the fort and the singing of “God Save the Queen”. So I learned something tonight. When they started singing I was surprised that they were singing America. However, I then realized that they were singing different words to our melody. Imagine, God Save the Queen and My Country 'Tis of Thee are to the same tune. It turns out that when Samuel Smith wrote America in 1831, he took the melody from a Germany songbook, so it is accidental. My Country 'Tis of Thee was generally accepted as our national anthem in the 1800's. Anyway, I like our words better.

My Country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountain side, let freedom ring.

God bless America.