Annie Lisle

"Annie Lisle" is the name of an 1857 ballad by Boston, Massachusetts songwriter H. S. Thompson first published by Moulton & Clark of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and later by Oliver Ditson & Co. [Fuld, James J., [http://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&&source=web&ots=XClZmxsypH&sig=8ivZt3_-h2bLiLo46kBuVbA87fw#PPA102,M1 "The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk"] , 5th Ed. Courier Dove, 2000. ISBN 0486414752] It is about the death of a young maiden, by what some have speculated to be tuberculosis, although the lyric does not explicitly mention tuberculosis, or "consumption" as it was called then. The song might have slipped into obscurity had the tune not been adopted by countless colleges, universities, and high schools worldwide as their respective alma mater songs.

Alma Maters

The first college to have used the tune in a spirit song seems to have been Cornell University. In 1870, students Archibald Weeks and Wilmot Smith wrote "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" and used an adaptation of Thompson's melody. Many other colleges and high schools, almost certainly influenced by Cornell's version, have since created their own renditions. They include:

* Acadia University
* American University of Beirut
* Anderson High School, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Astoria High School, Astoria, Oregon
* Charles E. Gorton High School, Yonkers, New York
* Chung Ling High School, Penang, Malaysia (in Chinese)
* College of William & Mary, James Southall Wilson
* Colorado State University
* Davis College
* Emory University
* Giles County High School, Pulaski, Tennessee
* Horseheads High School, Horseheads, New York
* Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore (in Chinese)
* Indiana University, J. T. Giles, 1893
* Lake Oswego High School, Lake Oswego, Oregon
* Lehigh University
* Lewis & Clark College
* Moravian College, J. Kenneth Pfohl, 1900
* Murray State University, A.B. Austin, 1935
* North Greenville University
* Orange High School, Orange, California
* Paulsboro High School, Paulsboro, New Jersey
* Roanoke Bible College, Sarah P. Bondurant, 1948
* Soochow University, Taipei (in Chinese)
* Stanton College Preparatory School, Jacksonville, Florida
* Stuyvesant High School, New York, New York
* Swarthmore College
* Syracuse University, Junius W. Stevens, 1893
* Tennessee Temple University
* Tennessee Wesleyan College
* Torrance High School (Torrance, California)
* University of Alabama, Helen Vickers, 1908
* University of Georgia, J.B. Wright, Jr. (additional verse by Gail Carter Dendy, 1990
* University of Kansas, George Penny, 1891
* University of Missouri, G.A. Wauchope, 1895
* University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, William Starr Myers, 1897
* University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
* Vanderbilt University, Robert F. Vaughn, 1907
* Western Carolina University
* Western Washington University
* White Plains High School, Anniston, AL
* Xavier University of Louisiana

Lyrics

:Down where the waving willows:’Neath the sunbeams smile,:Shadow’d o’er the murm’ring waters:Dwelt sweet Annie Lisle;:Pure as the forest lily,:Never tho’t of guile:Had its home within the bosom:Of sweet Annie Lisle.

:CHORUS:Wave willows, murmur waters,:Golden sunbeams, smile!:Earthly music cannot waken:Lovely Annie Lisle.

:Sweet came the hallow’d chiming:Of the Sabbath bell,:Borne on the morning breezes:Down the woody dell.:On a bed of pain and anguish:Lay dear Annie Lisle,:Chang’d were the lovely features,:Gone the happy smile.

: [CHORUS]

:"Raise me in your arms, O Mother;:Let me once more look:On the green and waving willows:And the flowing brook,:Hark! the sound of angel music:From the choirs above!:Dearest mother, I am going;:Surely God is love."

: [CHORUS]

In popular culture

The tune is also used in the parting song for the Kellerman Resort in the 1987 film "Dirty Dancing".

References

External links

* [http://www.web-helper.net/PDMusic/A/A0085.mid MIDI of the song]
* [http://www.web-helper.net/PDMusic/A/images/btsa0029.gifSheet music of the song]
* [http://www.murraystate.edu/chfa/music/Media/AlmaMater.mp3 Murray State Racer Band playing their Alma Mater]
* [http://www.wm.edu/so/choir/mp3/almamater.mp3 The Choir of William and Mary singing their Alma Mater]