[Ads-l] Paul Revere Quote

Thu Apr 13 18:34:19 UTC 2017

It seems plausible to me that either one of Revere, Prescott or any others might have alternately said, "the British are coming" or "the Regulars are coming" or "the British Regulars are coming" or "The British soldiers are coming."  It is difficult to imagine that anyone would use consistent language throughout the whole night or ride.  One witnesses reporting one phrase at 1:00 am does not mean that another witness did not hear something else at 2:00 am.

The question of how one or the other phrase became associated with Revere in pop-culture is also an interesting question.

An eyewitness account recorded fifty years after the fact by someone who was 15 or 16 at the time, reports a messenger saying, "the British are coming out."

Rev. Ezra Ripley with the citizens of Concord, A History of the Fight at Concord, Concord, Allen & Atwill, 1827 (HathiTrust).

"I, Robert Douglass, of Portland . . . Maine, aged sixty eight years, - do testify . . . that on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, I was at my father's house in Woburn, in the county of MIddlesex and colony of Masachusetts Bay.  On that morning, about one hour before day-break, a man rode up to my father's door, knocked loudly, and said "there is an alarm, - the British are coming out, and if there is any soldier in the house, he must turn out and repair to Lexington as soon as possible."  Who that man was I never knew.  I immediately arose, took my gun and equipments, and started for Lexington."

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2017 11:03:17 AM
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Subject: Re: Paul Revere Quote

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The Paul Revere Wikipedia entry specifies the exclamation "The
Regulars are coming out" and the supporting references given are
certainly worth examining. Yet, there is still an interesting cultural
question of when the version with "The British are coming! the British
are coming!" emerged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere

[Begin Wikipedia excerpt]
. . . most of the Massachusetts colonists (who were predominantly
English in ethnic origin)[44] still considered themselves
British.[45][46] Revere's warning, according to eyewitness accounts of
the ride and Revere's own descriptions, was "The Regulars are coming
out."

Revere, Paul (1961). Paul Revere's Three Accounts of His Famous Ride.
Introduction by Edmund Morgan. Boston: Massachusetts Historical
Society. ISBN 978-0-9619999-0-2.

Fischer, David Hackett (1994). Paul Revere's ride. New York: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-508847-6. This work is extensively
footnoted, and contains a voluminous list of primary resources
concerning all aspects of the Revere's ride and the battles at
Lexington and Concord.
[End Wikipedia excerpt]

Here is an 1851 citation with 'The British are coming! the British are
coming!' I do not think Paul Revere was mentioned in this tale. Also,
the 1853 citation I gave previously was based on a memory of the War
of 1812, I think.

https://books.google.com/books?id=ll03AQAAMAAJ&q=%22British+are%22#v=snippet&

Date: April 1851
Periodical: The Republic
Volume 1, Number 4
Article: The Tory and his Sister [as told be the old corporal]:
A Life Scene of the Revolution
Author: Thomas H. Whitney

[Begin excerpt]
On receiving the information from poor Debby, who was almost
frightened to death, he left her with his mother, and ran to the
quarters of the colonel, crying, as he went, 'The British are coming!
the British are coming!' and thus the whole town was set in commotion
in an instant, and the people thrown into a panic of consternation.
The frightful atrocities that had before been committed upon peaceful
villages, by the hirelings of the crown, had implanted a dread in the
hearts of the patriots, and the startling cry, 'The British coming,'
was a signal of horror to the defenceless people.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 1:06 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Below is an instance of "the British are coming! The British are
> coming!" spoken by an unnamed messenger in an account from 1853.
>
> Date: March 30, 1853
> Newspaper: The Middlebury Register
> Newspaper Location: Middlebury, Vermont
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/49670892/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> No wonder then, that consternation filled every mind, when on the
> morning of the second of August, a messenger rushed through the
> village proclaiming, "the British are coming! The British are coming!"
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 12:34 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> The 1874 text displays an interesting transition which may be worth
>> noting for list members. It contains two different exclamations. Paul
>> Revere says "The regulars are coming", and Dr. Prescott says "The
>> British are coming! The British are coming!"
>>
>> Year: 1874
>> Title: Stories of a Grandfather about American History
>> Author: N. S. Dodge (Nathaniel Shatswell Dodge)
>>
>> [Begin excerpt - page 82]
>> But they discovered it, nevertheless. Dr. Warren sent Paul Revere
>> across Charles river, and there a man lent him a horse. He stopped at
>> every house on the road, saying, "The regulars are coming." Other men
>> started off to tell their neighbors. At midnight, Revere rode up to a
>> farm-house, where were Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two patriot
>> leaders, and asked leave to go in.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> [Begin excerpt - page 85]
>> The British troops were in pursuit of the powder and cannon at
>> Concord. This the Americans knew. As soon therefore, as Dr. Prescott,
>> who had ridden hard from Boston, rushed into the little village,
>> calling out, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" every
>> man knew just what to do.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 12:03 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>>> The earliest mention I have found of Paul Revere's alleged quotation "The British are coming" is in Nathaniel Shatswell Dodge, Stories of a Grandfather About American History (1874).  Can anyone supply any earlier occurrences?
>>>
>>>
>>> Fred Shapiro
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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