25 March 2009

So much for Maryland NOT being the south...


For those of you who did not grow up in Maryland have to learn the words to "Maryland, My Maryland" in 3rd grade, let me give you a little crash course. It's the state song of Maryland, and it's a little, shall we say... outdated. (Not as much as the German national anthem, but that's a different story). Anyways, it makes several references to revenge on the patriotic gore that flecked the streets of Baltimore and basically challenges Virginia to a battle. Here's the kicker:

"She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!"

That's right- the Northern scum. Well, a committee of the Maryland House of Delegates thought that maybe we should make some sort of an effort to pretend that it's no longer 1861 and maybe be a little nicer to those yankee rebels and change the lyrics of the song. Well, for all of us Marylanders who have fought hard our entire lives to escape the stereotypes of being thought of as "part of the south" are out of luck- the bill was voted down and it looks like "Northern Scum" will remain a part of the Maryland state song. Wow.

1 comment:

Keith said...

From one who has straddled the line of Mason and Dixon in both residence and employment, I must say that we do have our share of scum in the North... however, this is certainly reminiscent of "Deutschland, Deutschland, uber alles"...