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2 unusual facts about James Ryder Randall


James Ryder Randall

It became a war hymn of the Confederacy after the poem's words were set to the tune "Lauriger Horatius" (the tune of O Tannenbaum) during the Civil War by Jennie Cary, a member of a prominent Maryland and Virginia family.

Poydras High School

In 1861, the song "Maryland, My Maryland" was written by James Ryder Randall, who was at the time employed as a professor at Poydras College.


John T. White

His poem "Maryland, My Maryland," written in 1894 as an alternate set of lyrics for the Maryland state song has recently seen renewed attention as it has been considered by the Maryland House of Delegates in 2009 to officially replace the existing lyrics by James Ryder Randall, which have been criticized for their Confederate sympathies and martial tone.


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