"Paul Revere's Ride" music by Edward Taylor Paull (E. T. Paull) = lantern in Boston Old North Church

Описание: "Paul Revere's Ride"

Music by Edward Taylor Paull (E. T. Paull)

Issued on Little Wonder 327

I love Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere's midnight ride but also know the historical facts.

Longfellow was wise to alter facts for the sake of making the ride more memorable and enchanting--after all, the poem was instantly famous, which is proof that the poet knew what he was doing. A bit of "poetic license" pays off.

If Longfellow had adhered too closely to facts, his poem would come off as dry and academic. The poem might NOT have caught on, and Revere might not be known today. The fighting at Lexington and Concord would be less known.

According to the poem, Revere needs the help of the lantern signal (or two lanterns) in the Old North Church, but this is fiction. The historical Paul Revere had no zero use for the signal--that signal was meant to give information to patriots in Charlestown in case Paul Revere was captured on the water. Paul Revere already knew that the Regulars (the British Army) was on the move. Pau Revere already knew that they would travel by boats that night before marching to Lexington and Concord.

It was Paul Revere himself who arranged for two friends to enter the Old North Church and send the signal to people in Charlestown. Two lanterns meant that the British were taking boats across the bay before marching--not taking the long march entirely on land, which was the other option.

Revere planned to deliver the same information in person at the time he reached Charlestown, but a backup system was needed in case Revere was be seized by hostile military forces. A big military ship was in the harbor at the time Revere was rowed to Charlestown.

OK, we covered that point--before getting in the boat Revere ARRANGED for the two lanterns to send a signal to others. In the end, the signal via lanterns was not ABSOLUTELY needed since Paul Revere's boat arrived in Charlestown. But the signal saved everyone time. Due to the warning ahead of time,, the men on the shore had the sense to get a horse ready (the name was Brown Beauty).

From Charlestown it takes a person with excellent eyesight to see any light from the tower of that church. It is quite a distance. But maybe a telescope was on hand. My own eyes would tell the difference between one lantern and two lanterns--they would be a blur.

Revere was rowed by others across the Charles River. It would make no sense for Revere to wear himself out with rowing. He needed strength for the coming miles of riding.

The signal was seen, and men in Charlestown went down the shore to await the arrival of Paul Revere. Brown Beauty was ready to trot.

Revere is famous for the ride, but other riders were on horses, too. A lot of teamwork happened that night and in preceding weeks--something the poem does not acknowledge. Longfellow chose to focus on an individual, not examine a team. Call it myth-making if you want, but that's how history can enter popular culture in a healthy way.

Some names have not survived, but one name is William Dawes (a Dawes descendant would be vice president under Coolidge in the 1920s--you know about the famous Dawes Plan).

Dawes took a different route than Revere's to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that British soldiers (Regulars) were marching from Boston to Lexington to arrest Hancock and Adams and seize weapons or gunpowder in Concord.

After spreading the news in Lexington, Revere and Dawes headed for Concord, where the militia's arsenal was hidden. They were joined by Samuel Prescott, a doctor who lived in Concord and happened to be in Lexington.

Revere, Dawes, and Prescott were stopped by British troops in Lincoln on the road to Concord.

Prescott escaped and made it to Concord, his own town. Revere and Prescott were detained, questioned, and escorted at gunpoint by three British officers back to Lexington. If Revere had been travelling with a pistol, he probably would have been executed. But he wisely chose to carry no weapon.

Of the three riders, only Prescott arrived at Concord in time to warn the militia there, but others from Lexington were spreading the news throughout the wider Concord area. For weeks, residents had been expected a visit from the Regulars, but nobody knew exactly when.

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."



"Paul Revere's Ride" music by Edward Taylor Paull (E. T. Paull) = lantern in Boston Old North Church