How Stands the Glass Around explained

"How Stands the Glass Around", also referred to as "General Wolfe's Song", is an English folk song. The lyrics express the suffering of soldiers, wherefore the song was primarily popular among people serving in the military. It deals with the helplessness experienced during war and the boldness demanded in the military, but also about reducing fear and pain by consuming alcohol. One paper suggests that it was the favourite song of Alexander Hamilton.

Background

The oldest known reference to the song is an alternative text written for a ballad opera in the year 1729. It became notorious after Wolfe was reported to have sung it before the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759), gaining thereby the alternative title of "General Wolfe's Song".^{[1] [2]}

Further use

• The composer William Shield made use of the song for his opera Siege of Gibraltar (1780).
• The sonata Siege of Quebec by William de Krifft begins with the melody of How Stands the Glass Around.^[3]
• The band Wilderun conceived a metal arrangement of How Stands the Glass Around.^[4]

Trivia

• Alexander Graydon quotes the song in his memoirs.^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

Recordings

• Web site: How Stands the Glass Around. John. Townley. .
• Web site: How Stands the Glass Around. Ben. Walker. .

Sources

1. Web site: The Country 'squire: together with How stands the glass. americanantiquarian.org. American Antiquarian Society. 2021-03-26.
2. Web site: The Soldier's Lament: How Stands the Glass Around?. YouTube. Brandon. Fisichella. 2017-10-12. 2021-03-26. en.
3. Book: Siege of Quebec, a sonata for the harpsichord or piano-forte, with accompaniments for a violin, violoncello, & tympano ad libitum, composed by W. B. de Krifft. Internet Archive. 1760 . 978-0-665-90006-8 . 2021-03-26.
4. Web site: Wilderun ― How Stands the Glass Around? (Live at The Middle East). YouTube. 2013-05-20. 2021-03-26.
5. Stephen Carl Arch: Writing a Federalist Self: Alexander Graydon's Memoirs of a Life . In: The William and Mary Quarterly . tape 52, no. 3 . Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, July 1995, pp. 415-432, doi : 10.2307 / 2947293 (English).
6. Book: Graydon. Alexander. Alexander Graydon. Littell. John Stockton. Memoirs of His Own Time. With Reminiscences of the Men and Events of the Revolution. 1846. Lindsay and Blakiston. Philadelphia. 164.
7. Francis S. Drake: Dictionary of American Biography. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston 1874, p. 377
8. Alexander Graydon. In: Penn People. University Archives and Records Center