A Record of Their Fame

As today is Memorial Day, I feel it only appropriate that we all take a moment to reflect upon the Sons of Dartmouth who have given their lives for the sake of our country. Last year, The Dartmouth Review published a list of the names of those heroic gentlemen.

On a side note, I am also reminded of one of my favorite Dartmouth traditions, one that today is found in the memories of a only handful of diligent undergraduates, though the meaning is certainly not lost upon decades of alumni: the ‘war verse’ of Hovey’s “Men of Dartmouth,” since rechristened as the Alma Matter. In theory, the war verse is supposed to be sung only in times of war; in practice, I have never heard it sung or even mentioned in my time at Dartmouth. For posterity, I have copied the lyrics below. The tune is the same as the rest of the song.

They were mighty men of old
That she nurtured side by side;
Till like Vikings they went forth
From the lone and silent North,
And they strove, and they wrought, and they died;
But the sons of old Dartmouth,
The laurelled sons of Dartmouth,
The Mother keeps them in her heart
And guides their altar flame;
The still North remembers them,
The hill-winds know their name,
And the granite of New Hampshire
Keeps the record of their fame;
And the granite of New Hampshire
Keeps the record of their fame.