Maryland State Song, With Pro-Confederate References, Voted Out

ANNAPOLIS, MD — After multiple failed attempts to drop a pro-Confederacy tune that vilified President Abraham Lincoln, both houses of the Maryland legislature have voted to drop "Maryland, My Maryland" as the state's song.

The anthem was composed during the Civil War by a Confederate sympathizer, James Ryder Randall, and has been a state symbol since 1939. Randall supported secession from the Union at the start of the War. Marylanders were split — with many in the slave-holding state in favor of secession, while others in the north and west of Baltimore wanted to stay put.

A measure to abolish the current state song passed in the state Senate 45-0. The House passed the bill 95-38 on Monday, The Associated Press reported.

"The state song pleads for Maryland to answer the Confederacy call to war, to spurn the 'Northern scum,' and it calls President Lincoln a tyrant for abolishing slavery," Maryland Speaker Pro Tem Sheree Sample-Hughes said during a debate in February to drop the song. "This has stained the pages of our laws for too long, and it's unacceptable."

Supporters of a repeal believe renewed attention on racial justice, and the fallout after the Jan. 6 mob breach of the U.S. Capitol, helped the legislation gain traction this year.

The song begins with a hostile reference to Lincoln: "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland!"

It is up to Gov. Larry Hogan to sign the legislation to repeal the state song.

His spokesman, Michael Ricci, declined to tell the AP whether Hogan would sign the bill, because it has not been formally presented to him. But Ricci said the governor has said he doesn't like the song.

Maryland lawmakers have introduced bills to repeal the song in 1974, 1980, 1984, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. None passed both chambers, Maryland Matters reported.

Recently, in 2016 and 2018, the Senate succeeded in moving legislation to modify the current state song, only to have the measure die in the House.

This year, Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) called for the song to be repealed, and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) supported repeal as well.

Previous attempts to change it stalled over disagreements about finding a replacement. This time, sponsors avoided that debate by repealing it without a replacement.

In 2017, the University of Maryland marching band announced it would no longer play "Maryland, My Maryland" before football games. Last year, Pimlico Race Course, home to the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore that's part of horse racing's Triple Crown, scrapped its tradition of playing the song before the race.