Ben Boyce, Jr.: A Poster Boy for American Historical Memory and the Constitution Party's First Couple
At the Maryland Constitution Party's State Convention on May 22nd, favorite son Michael Peroutka was proclaimed as the choice of his fellow Marylanders to receive the Party's national nomination in June at Valley Forge as the next President of the United States. The Maryland conclave was treated to lectures and exhortations by inveterate American Right columnists and activists Franklin Sanders (The Moneychanger) and Mark Dankof.

But the highlight of the tribute and sendoff for Presidential First Couple Michael and Diane Peroutka and their campaign theme of "God, Family, Republic," was the poetic and historical treat proffered to the faithful by a little boy named Ben Boyce, Jr. in the nine stanza recitation of the lyrics of Maryland State Song, "Maryland, My Maryland."

The flawless presentation of the young lad's memorized lyrics will accompany Mr. Peroutka's formal acceptance of the Presidential nomination of his Constitution Party at the Valley Forge Convention Center in June. The poignant words underscore what Michael and Diane Peroutka and the readers of American Memory already know: that the deliberate committal of American history, the Constitution, and Scripture to the individual and collective memory remind us of who we were as a People--and what we can yet be again under the direction of a sovereign and purposeful God.

by James Ryder Randall (1861)


Maryland, My Maryland

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!

II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
Maryland!
My Mother State! to thee I kneel,

Maryland!
For life or death, for woe or weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!

III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,

Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,

Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!

V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,

Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And sing thy dauntless slogan song,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,

Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
Sic semper! 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back amain,

Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,

Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek,
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,

Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,

Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the shot, the blade, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the Soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,

Maryland!
The Old Line 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!
- posted by Blackie @ 2:03 PM