Songs of Trinity

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, music was a major pastime of college students, and singing in vocal groups was particularly enjoyed. Trinity undergraduates and alumni occasionally composed songs or wrote new lyrics for familiar tunes, using the College or members of the faculty as a theme. Students usually sung such songs at informal gatherings or athletic events, undergraduate vocal ensembles performed them on more formal occasions, and alumni took great pleasure in singing them at reunions, class dinners or alumni association meetings. Reflecting the music that was popular at any given period, the songs were usually sentimental or whimsical in nature.

In 1868, Oliver Ditson & Co., a major music publisher in Boston, issued Carmina Collegensia, a collection of American college songs. Trinity was represented by 14 selections, including Long Live Old Trinity, with words by John H. Brocklesby, Class of 1865, and Good Old Trinity by James Buchanan, Class of 1853. The Trinity song best known today is the College's alma mater, 'Neath the Elms*. The words were written in 1882 by Augustus P. Burgwin, a senior that year, to accompany the tune of an old spiritual that his family's butler often sang. The College had just begun to plant elm trees on the Quad, and the nostalgic verses of 'Neath the Elms* immediately became popular among undergraduates and alumni alike. The alma mater was soon sung at Commencement and at alumni gatherings.

On occasion Trinity faculty members found themselves the subject of undergraduate songs. For example, The Faculty Song, dating from the 1890s, features President George W. Smith, former President Thomas R. Pynchon, and a host of beloved faculty from that period, including
a future president, Flavel S. Luther, Seabury Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. A favorite among undergraduates because of his intense interest in the welfare of the student body and in intercollegiate sports, Professor Luther often figured in Trinity songs, particularly in the 1890s and early 1900s. The words of one song with the title Mr. Luther were from the pen of the Hon. Joseph Buffington, Class of 1875, a distinguished federal judge and trustee of the College, and were probably written during 1903-1904 when Luther was Trinity's acting president. The Trustees appointed him the 11th president in 1904.

* 'Neath the Elms mp3 file originally recorded by the 1993-1994 Trinity Pipes.