JGBaroque says
This tune came to my attention as a listener had commented on my version of "General Wolfe's March" (link below) and pointed out that they expected to hear this melody, and were a bit disappointed that it weren't. I had not heard the tune, but was delighted to find that it was actually a folk song, earliest referenced in 1729. The alternative title - "General Wolfe's Song" - was not something that had been just smacked upon it as a selling title, but it was reportedly so that James Wolfe, who commanded the British victoriously at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 but died in action, sung this song before the battle. It doesn't seem unlikely, as the lyrics reference a soldiers defiant life in the constant nearness of death. The drums, as well as the harmonies, is my own arrangement, echoing the dampened sound of funeral drums. The image shows the death of James Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, painted by the English artist Edward Penny, sometime around 1763-1764, close to the actual event.
"How Stands the Glass Around", also referred to as "General Wolfe's Song", is an English folk song.[1] The lyrics express the suffering of soldiers, wherefore the song was primarily popular among people serving in the military.[2] 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.[3]
Background
The oldest known reference to the song is an alternative text written for a ballad opera in the year 1729.[4][1][2] 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][5]
Lyrics
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