Recording the War of 1812: Stan Rogers' (Un)sung Heroes [Billy Green] [The Nancy] [MacDonnell on the Heights]

This article examines the role of popular music in the making and dissemination of "popular" history and the differences between "popular" or "vernacular" memories and the official versions of history handed down to us by elites. The principal focus is on three songs by the late Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers about the War of 1812-14, the war between Britain and the United States over the future of the surviving British North American colonies which was also, in some measure, Canada's own "War of Independence." Each of these songs celebrates a contribution to the British/Canadian cause by an individual who has been largely overlooked in official/academic histories of the War--hence the reference to "(un)sung heroes" in the title.