The "UNH Alma Mater" is the official
alma mater of the
University of New Hampshire in
Durham, New Hampshire
Durham is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, 2011. D ...
. The lyrics to the song were written by Herbert Fisher Moore, an 1898 graduate of the school, and are sung to the tune "Lancashire" (also known as "Lead On, O King Eternal") by
Henry Smart
Henry Thomas Smart (26 October 1813 – 6 July 1879) was an English organist and composer.
Biography
Smart was born in London, a nephew of the conductor Sir George Smart and son of a music publisher, orchestra director and accomplished violini ...
.
History
In February 1898—when the school was still
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (NHC) was founded and incorporated in 1866, as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College. In 1893, NHC moved to Durham, where it became the University of New Ha ...
—''The New Hampshire College Monthly'' published an editorial requesting a college song.
[ It offered a $10 prize, outlining rules and stating that judges could "reject all contributions if none are... suitable".]Fair Harvard
"Fair Harvard" is the alma mater of Harvard University. Written by the Reverend Samuel Gilman of the class of 1811 for the university's 200th anniversary in 1836, it bids the school an affectionate farewell. Of its four verses, the first and fou ...
", with New Hampshire-oriented lyrics—the opening line was "New Hampshire, thy sons and thy daughters return".
The date of first publication of the current alma mater is unclear. Under the title "New Hampshire Hymn", the words were included in the inaugural (1909) edition of ''The Granite'', the school's college yearbook, published in May 1908.
Lyrics
New Hampshire, alma mater,
All hail, all hail to thee!
Behind thee tow'r the mountains,
Before thee roars the sea.
Thy sons and daughters ever
Thy praises loud will sing.
New Hampshire, alma mater,
Accept our offering.
We love thee, old New Hampshire,
And to the White and Blue,
Where'er our work shall call us,
We always will be true.
We'll ever guard thy honor,
Bright shall thy mem'ry be.
New Hampshire, alma mater,
All hail, all hail to thee!
Source:
See also
* " On to Victory" – the school's fight song
Notes
References
External links
*
{{University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
American college songs
Alma mater songs