by Mark Collin Reid

Quick quiz: Which War of 1812 jingle is among the most famous songs in the world? Here’s a hint — you heard it during the 2014 Winter Olympics, each time the United States won gold. That’s right, “The Star-Spangled Banner” — America’s national anthem — was written to celebrate the 1814 American victory at Baltimore.

Now for a follow-up: Name one historic Canadian song commemorating the 1812 conflict. Stumped? So was Ontario folk musician Peter Boyer. That’s why he and his bandmates in Same Latitude As Rome decided to write and record an album’s worth of 1812-themed songs. The Essex County band has spent the past two years performing the album at festivals across Ontario. Canada’s History recently caught up with Boyer to discuss the project.

Canada’s History: What was the inspiration for the 1812 CD?

Peter Boyer: The Americans are really great at telling their stories. We really try to be a Canadian band and honour the Canadian narrative as much as we can. When [the bicentennial of] 1812 was coming up, I went to the traditional catalogue to find some songs to perform, and there were virtually none. Stan Rogers had written a couple. Other than that, there was nothing to draw on.

While there are British military tunes from that era, few are sung from a Canadian perspective, and very little sheet music exists. Why do you think that is?

Peter Boyer: I have puzzled about that myself. There was one, “Come all ye brave Canadians …” [the song is “The Bold Canadian,” composed in 1812] — you might be familiar with that one. I think it was the only one that emerged from the time.

In Ontario, especially, there was so much privation and suffering that most people wanted to put it behind them and move on. Some of the roots of anti-Americanism came from that time. The population didn’t want to tell the story any more — they knew it too well. They just moved on, and it was forgotten.

Peter Boyer: For British folksingers and storytellers, [the War of 1812] was the forgotten war. The Napoleonic Wars are much more in their minds.

For several of the songs, you collaborated lyrically with Windsor historian Dan Loncke. Is it true that you met during one of your performances?

Peter Boyer: He said, you know, those are great songs. I have a bunch of 1812 poems I have been working on — maybe we could collaborate? And you know what? It turned out to be a great collaboration. The inspiration grew from that. We decided at the end we would have a whole 1812 CD and put it out for the bicentennial. At the larger shows, Dan came out and did a narrative in between the songs. We also showed all kinds of archival photos and maps. It told the whole story [of the war]. The show was called 1812 in Story and Song.

The CD’s eleven songs highlight many key moments in the war. What’s your favourite track on the album?

Peter Boyer: I think my personal favourite is “Tecumseh.” I think Tecumseh is one of the great unheralded Canadian heroes. One thing that really emerged for me [during the bicentennial] was the consensus that the big losers were First Nations and that Tecumseh’s vision was lost … in the Treaty of Ghent negotiations. [One reason why Tecumseh, an Aboriginal leader, supported Britain was a promise that Aboriginals would receive an independent homeland near the Great Lakes after the war.] The British pretty quickly abandoned the Natives’ claim. I think Tecumseh’s story needs to be told. I gave it my best shot. I think it’s a great song, and it’s certainly my favourite. I tried to really honour Tecumseh and the First Nations of 1812.

Same Latitude as Rome playing in Fergus-Elora, Ontario. Photo courtesy Peter Boyer.

Here is one of the songs off the album, called "Brock at Detroit."

You can also listen to the song here.

And if you want to learn how to play the song, here are the lyics and chords.  

The entire album is available for purchase on ITunes. For more information about the band, go to Same Latitude as Rome's website