"Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" is an American patriotic song which was popular in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Composed c. 1843, it vied with other songs in the American "Patriotic Big Five" (also including "Hail, Columbia", the "Star-Spangled Banner", "Yankee Doodle", and "My Country Tis of Thee") for use as a national anthem, the United States at the time having no song officially designated as such. It reached a height of popularity during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and subsequently became a staple in the repertoire of the United States Marine Band. The tune was later used repeatedly by the composer Charles Ives, featuring notably in his Second Symphony and Holiday Symphony as well as in his Piano Sonata No. 2. In the 1957 musical The Music Man – set in 1912 – a full-cast rendition of "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" is performed during the scene depicting the town's Independence Day celebration.

The melody of "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" is identical to that of the British patriotic song "Britannia, the Pride of the Ocean" and there is disagreement as to which song was adapted from the other. The origins and authorship of "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" have been the source of some uncertainty. It is believed that Thomas A'Becket, Sr., a British musician and longtime resident of Philadelphia who performed at that city's Chestnut Street Theater, wrote the lyrics – and possibly the melody – at the request of David Shaw for the latter's performance at a benefit concert, probably in the autumn of 1843.

That year, the copyright for the song was registered by the Philadelphia publishing house of George Willig under the name "Columbia, the Land of the Brave". Shaw subsequently published the song under his own name, though A'Becket later claimed sole authorship and presented an original handwritten composition as proof. The song invokes the historic informal name "Columbia" for the United States and borrows and modifies the phrase "land of the free and the home of the brave" from Francis Scott Key's earlier "Star-Spangled Banner" as "the home of the brave and the free"

Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean by unknown

Arr S Schultz

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