The Randall Oak, lyrical site of “Maryland, My Maryland,” to be rededicated
This Saturday, April 2, the public is cordially invited to attend the rededication of the Randall Oak and its historical marker commemorating the site where Maryland native James Ryder Randall composed his epic poem, Maryland, My Maryland 150 years ago. The forty-minute program is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Randall Oak grounds, located at 9789 False River Road in New Roads, Louisiana.
Located on the property of David and Madeline Breidenback, this magnificent, centuries old tree is the last surviving reminder of the site of Poydras College where Randall served as a professor. Newspaper accounts of the April 19, 1861, Baltimore Riots stunned Randall who learned that one of his close friends, Francis X. Ward, had been killed in the melee:
“I read … that one of my school mates had been seized with patriotic fervor and on my return to the college, I composed the poem. The college boys were the first to hear it read and it roused them to such enthusiasm that I began to think there must be something in the poem. So I sent it to the True Delta in New Orleans, and it was published (on 26 April 1861). Not long after I realized that the song had caught the Southern heart.”
Randall’s nine stanzas were soon set to the music of “Lauriger Horatius,” better known as “O Tannenbaum,” and became one of the most stirring songs of the Confederacy. Since 1939, “Maryland, My Maryland” has been the official song of the state of Maryland. Indeed, verse three is traditionally sung just before the running of The Preakness at Pimlico in Baltimore:
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Remember Carroll‘s sacred trust,
Remember Howard‘s warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!
The Book Club of Pointe Coupee erected a roadside monument and plaque commemorating Randall’s composition in 1938. After an automobile accident damaged the marker in 2005, the Book Club began new efforts to restore the marker to a nearby, safer location. Saturday’s rededication will unveil the plaque accompanied by uniformed re-enactors, rifle and cannon salutes, and instrumental and choral airs of the period.
For additional information on the Randall Oak marker rededication ceremony, contact Madeline Breidenbach at 225-638-6463 or email breidend@bellsouth.net
Harold
