by Jason Sparks

Fourth grader Antoinette Lee and her classmates at Glen Burnie Park Elementary School aren't fans of their state song, which calls Northerners scum and Abraham Lincoln a despot. During a lesson on state history, the students learned that the lyrics to "Maryland, My Maryland" are from a poem written during the early days of the Civil War by Maryland native James Ryder Randall, a confederate sympathizer. The first and last stanzas are among the lines that just don't sit well with Antoinette and her pals:

I
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore
And be the battle queen of yore
Maryland! My Maryland!

IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland!
The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! she burns! she'll come! she'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!

Inspired by letters from the class, Maryland General Assembly Delegate Pamela Beidle is co-sponsoring a state bill to change the song. You can follow the progress of the bill here:

http://mlis.state.md.us/#bill Just type in HB1241 in the blank space.

Tell us about your state song. Is there anything in it that is similarly dated, or that you'd change? Let us know!