star spangled?

[incitatus]

Is there any truth to the rumour that the star spangled banner (america's national anthem) was actually an old Yorkshire drinking song?

[larabell]

The Star Spangled Banner is set to the music from a drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven" - music by John Stafford Smith and words by Ralph Tomlinson. The tune was originally the "constitutional song" of the Anacreontic Society, a gentlemen's music club in London named after the 6th-century B.C.E. Greek poet Anacreon. So drinking song yes, but I don't think there's a Yorkshire connection. Hope that helps.