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Young George Admitting to Chopping Down the Cherry Tree
George Washington's Birthday
Feb 22
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"But come, ye sons of Liberty,
Columbia's offspring, brave as free,
In danger's hour still flaming in the van,
Ye know, and dare maintain, the Royalty of Man!"
~ Ode to General Washington, Robert Burns, 1794
Robert Burns wrote the Ode to General Washington’s Birthday in 1794 as a tribute to George Washington, the first President of the United States, celebrating his leadership and the ideals of liberty that had inspired the American Revolution. Burns, a known supporter of democratic principles and the rights of the common people, admired Washington as a symbol of resistance against tyranny. The poem was written at the request of an admirer in America and reflects Burns’ belief in the universal struggle for freedom, a theme he often championed in his works. Though Burns never visited America, his admiration for the revolution aligned with his own radical sympathies in Scotland, where he quietly supported reformist movements despite the political risks.
This namesake strathspey is a tribute to the double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River between the borough of Manhattan in New York City and Fort Lee, New Jersey, and contains, of course, a central "Bridge" figure, mirror reels passing through an arch! Happy Birthday, George! ❤️ 🤍 💙 🇺🇸 🎂 🌉
The George Washington Bridge
Today is Cherry Pie Day, named for the cherry tree legend associated with the first President of the United Sates, George Washington, born this day, Feb 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he presided over the convention that drafted the United States Constitution.
In 1794, Robert Burns wrote a poem dedicated to General Washington, a fellow freemason.
Burns had been an enthusiastic supporter of the French revolution in1789 before its later excesses and supported the American struggle for democracy.
A copy of the New York edition of Burns' poems were discovered in George Washington's library upon his death. The first verse reads:
Ode For General Washington's Birthday
No Spartan tube, no Attic shell,
No lyre Aeolian I awake;
'Tis liberty's bold note I swell,
Thy harp, Columbia, let me take!
See gathering thousands, while I sing,
A broken chain exulting bring,
And dash it in a tyrant's face,
And dare him to his very beard,
And tell him he no more is feared-
No more the despot of Columbia's race!
The apocryphal story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree (resulting in traditional cherry pie for Washington's birthday) goes as follows:
When George Washington was just six years old, his father gave him his first hatchet. Little George was delighted with his hatchet and liked to cut down everything in his path. In his mother’s garden, an English cherry tree grew, and it was that tree that George cut off all the bark until it died.
One day his father discovered the tree and approached George. George’s father asked who had killed his tree.
Young George was said to reply, "I cannot tell a lie. I cut it with my hatchet.”
This story (created as a tribute to Washington's reputation for honesty and integrity) was actually written by a gentleman named Mason Weems in a book about the life of George Washington while living at Ferry Farm.
For a variation on a classic recipe, click the pie below, and for more on the life of George Washington, click the vintage postcard.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
