The "UNH Alma Mater" is the official

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

of the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

Durham, New Hampshire Durham is a New England town, town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 ...

. The lyrics to the song were written by Herbert Fisher Moore, an 1898 graduate of the school, and are sung to the tune "Lancashire" (also known as "Lead On, O King Eternal") by

Henry Smart Henry Thomas Smart (26 October 1813 – 6 July 1879) was an English organist and composer. Biography Smart was born in London, a nephew of the conductor Sir George Smart and son of a music publisher, orchestra director and accomplished violin ...

History

In February 1898—when the school was still

New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (NHC) was founded and incorporated in 1866, as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College. In 1893, NHC moved to Durham, where it became the University of New ...

—''The New Hampshire College Monthly'' published an editorial requesting a college song. It offered a $10 prize, outlining rules and stating that judges could "reject all contributions if none are... suitable". In April, the ''College Monthly'' reported that the judges felt the contributions received "were hardly suited" to be adopted as the college song. In October 1903, the ''College Monthly'' published a "College Song" sung to " Fair Harvard", with New Hampshire-oriented lyrics—the opening line was "New Hampshire, thy sons and thy daughters return". The date of first publication of the current alma mater is unclear. Under the title "New Hampshire Hymn", the words were included in the inaugural (1909) edition of ''The Granite'', the school's college yearbook, published in May 1908.

Lyrics

New Hampshire, alma mater,
All hail, all hail to thee!
Behind thee tow'r the mountains,
Before thee roars the sea.
Thy sons and daughters ever
Thy praises loud will sing.
New Hampshire, alma mater,
Accept our offering. We love thee, old New Hampshire,
And to the White and Blue,
Where'er our work shall call us,
We always will be true.
We'll ever guard thy honor,
Bright shall thy mem'ry be.
New Hampshire, alma mater,
All hail, all hail to thee!

Source:

Notes

References

External links

* {{University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire American college songs Alma mater songs

History

Lyrics

See also

Notes

References

External links