George Martin Lane (December 24, 1823 – June 30, 1897)[1] was an American scholar.
Lane was born inCharlestown, Massachusetts. He graduated in 1846 fromHarvard, and from 1847 to 1851 studied at the universities ofBerlin,Bonn,Heidelberg, andGöttingen. In 1851, he received his doctorate at Göttingen for his dissertationSmyrnaeorum Res Gestae et Antiquitates and upon returning to America was appointed university professor ofLatin atHarvard College.[1][2]
From 1869 until 1894, when he resigned and became professor emeritus, he was Pope Professor of Latin in the same institution.[1] HisLatin Pronunciation, which led to the rejection of the English method of Latin pronunciation in the United States, was published in 1871.[2]
HisLatin Grammar, completed and published by ProfessorMorris H. Morgan in the following year, is of high value. Lane's assistance in the preparation of Harper's Latin lexicons was also invaluable. He wrote English light verse with humor and fluency, and two of his efforts, "Jonah" or "In the Black Whale at Ascalon" and "The Ballad of the Lone Fish Ball", became famous as songs after being set to music.[2]
Upon Lane's retirement in 1894, Harvard granted him an honorary degree as well as the firstpension it had ever granted a faculty member which, according to Lane, was enough to support him for the rest of his life.[1]
In1855, while living atCloverden inCambridge, Massachusetts, Lane wrote the song "The Lone Fish Ball"; after decades as a staple of Harvard undergraduates, it was modernized into the popular hit "One Meat Ball".[1] The song is set to the tune of an old song titled "Sipping Cider Through a Straw".
According to Morgan, the song is based upon an actual experience of Lane's at a restaurant inBoston, although the reality involved a half-portion ofmacaroni, rather than afish ball. The song goes on to relate the impoverished diner's embarrassment at the hands of a disdainfulwaiter. After becoming popular among Harvard undergraduates, it was translated into a mock Italianoperetta,Il Pesceballo, by faculty membersFrancis James Child,James Russell Lowell andJohn Knowles Paine, set to apastiche ofgrand opera music and performed in Boston and Cambridge to raise funds for theUnion Army.[1][3] A fish ball, in New England, was fish and potatoes, pan fried together for breakfast.
In1944, the song was revived byTin Pan Alley songwritersHy Zaret andLou Singer in a morebluesy format as "One Meat Ball" and popularized by Tony Pastor: The recording byJosh White later became one of the biggest hits of the early part of theAmerican folk music revival.[1] Over the years, it was recorded byCandy Candido,the Andrews Sisters,Bing Crosby,Jimmy Savo,[4]Lightnin' Hopkins,Lonnie Donegan,Dave Van Ronk,Ry Cooder,Washboard Jungle,Tom Paxton,Shinehead,Ann Rabson,Calvin Russell,Josh White, among others.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lane, George Martin".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 169.| International | |
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