
“Once More! Our God Vouchsafe to Shine”
Words by Samuel Sewall; tune "The Ten Commandments," 1701
A song expressing English motivations for "taming" the continent

“Death of General Wolfe”
Words by Anonymous; tune "Bold Wolfe," 1760
The story of the British general who became a hero during the French and Indian War

“Tobacco's But an Indian Weed”
George Wither, 1662
Sung while harvesting the American colonies' first cash crop
“Welcome, Welcome, Brother Debtor”
Words by Francis Williams, 1740s; tune "What is Greater Joy and Pleasure," 1730
A song from a popular ballad opera, The Prisoner's Opera
“Round the Corner, Sally" and "Round the Corn, Sally"
Traditional, 1700s
African American field song later adapted as a traditional sailing song

“Children in the Woods”
Anonymous, 1595
A song that expresses the way children were regarded in the 16th and 17th centuries
“New England's Annoyances”
Anonymous, 1643
A song detailing life in the early New England colonies

“En roulant ma boule”
Traditional, 1600s
A paddling song of the French voyageurs and fur traders
“A Friendly Invitation to a New Plantation”
Words by Anonymous; tune "Tom O'Bedlam," 1638
A "recruiting" song urging Puritans to settle in New England
“La courte paille” (The Short Straw)
Traditional, c. 1755
French Acadians tell what happened after the British exiled them from their home

“Old Hundred”
Bay Psalm Book, 1640
The 100th Psalm from a Puritan psalter, a book of Psalms set in meter for singing
“Let Us Break Bread Together”
Traditional, c. 1676
African American spiritual used to call a secret meeting
“Alabado” (Song of Praise)
Traditional, 1600s
A hymn from the Spanish missions of California
“God Save the King”
Anonymous, c. 1745
The royal anthem of England was proudly shared by the colonists during this period |