"Annie Lisle" is the name of an 1857 ballad by Boston, Massachusetts songwriter H. S. Thompson first published by Moulton & Clark of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and later by Oliver Ditson & Co. It is about the death of a young maiden, by what some have speculated to be tuberculosis, although the lyric does not explicitly mention tuberculosis, or "consumption" as it was called then. The song might have slipped into obscurity had the tune not been adopted by countless colleges, universities, and high schools worldwide as their respective alma mater songs.
The first college to have used the tune in a spirit song seems to have been Cornell University. In 1870, students Archibald Weeks and Wilmot Smith wrote "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" and used an adaptation of Thompson's melody. Many other colleges and high schools, likely influenced by Cornell's version, have since created their own renditions. Some include:
Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity
Acadia University
Altoona Area High School, Altoona, Pennsylvania
Alliance High School, Alliance, Ohio
American University of Beirut
Anderson High School, Cincinnati, Ohio
Annapolis High School, Annapolis, Maryland
Arkansas High School, Texarkana, Arkansas
Ashworth College
Astoria High School, Astoria, Oregon
The Barstow School, Kansas City, Missouri
Bay City Central High School, Bay City, Michigan
Bay High School (Panama City, Florida)
Baldwin Boys High School, Bangalore, India
Bellevue High School, Bellevue, Washington
Bentley High School, Livonia, Michigan (George N. Bentley High School)
Bishop O'Dowd High School, Oakland, California
Brent International School, Baguio City, Philippines
Brunswick High School, Brunswick, Maryland
Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa
Cabot High School, Cabot, Vermont
Camp Emerald Bay
Caesar Rodney High School, Camden-Wyoming, Delaware
Cairo High School, Cairo, Georgia
Calhoun Falls Charter School, Calhoun Falls, South Carolina
California State University Bakersfield, Bakersfield, California
Camden County High School (Georgia), Kingsland, Georgia
Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee
Carter High School, Strawberry Plains, Tennessee
CCC Yenching College, Hong Kong, China
Central-Carroll High School, Carrollton, Georgia
Central Catholic High School, Lawrence, Massachusetts
Central Columbia High School, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Darlington School, Rome, Georgia
Charles E. Gorton High School, Yonkers, New York
Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (in Chinese)
Chung Ling High School, Penang, Malaysia (in Chinese)
Churchland High School, (Portsmouth, Virginia)
Coldwater High School, Coldwater, Ohio
College of William & Mary, James Southall Wilson
Collingswood High School, Collingswood, New Jersey.
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
Concord-Carlisle High School, Concord, Massachusetts
Coppell High School, Coppell, Texas
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Crystal City High School, Crystal City, Texas
Daniel Webster High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Davis College
Decatur County High School, Oberlin, Kansas
Deep Creek High School, Chesapeake, Virginia
Delbarton School, Morristown, New Jersey
Doane University, Crete, Nebraska
Dos Palos High School, Dos Palos, California
Dripping Springs High School, Dripping Springs, Texas
East Tennessee State University
Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, Massachusetts
Eastwick College and the HoHoKus Schools, Ramsey, New Jersey
Edcouch-Elsa High School, Edcouch, Texas
Effingham County High School, Springfield, Georgia
Emory University
Erskine College
Escambia County (AL) High School, Atmore, Alabama
Etna High School Etna, Pennsylvania
Eureka College
Farmington Senior High School, Farmington, Missouri
Foothill High School, Bakersfield, California
Frankfurt American High School, Frankfurt, Germany
Franklin Central High School, Indianapolis, Indiana
Franklin College, Franklin, Indiana
Gainesville High School (Florida), Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville High School (Georgia), Gainesville, Georgia
Gallatin High School, Gallatin, Tennessee
Giles County High School, Pulaski, Tennessee
Graham High School, Bluefield, Virginia
Green High School, Green, Ohio
Greensburg Salem High School, Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Grove City High School, Grove City, Ohio
Hanover Area School District, Hanover Township, Pennsylvania
Hartselle High School, Hartselle, Alabama
Hixson High School, Hixson, Tennessee
Holton-Arms School, Bethesda, Maryland
Hopewell High School, Hopewell, VA
Houston County High School, Warner Robins, GA
Horseheads High School, Horseheads, New York
Howard Payne University, Brownwood, Texas
Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore (in Chinese)
Ider High School (Alabama), Ider, Alabama
Ilion High School, Ilion, New York, Down Among the Peaceful Valleys
Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, 1912
Indiana University, J. T. Giles, 1893
Irving High School (Texas)
Jackson High School, Jackson, Missouri
Jacksonville High School, Jacksonville, Alabama
Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro, Kentucky
Keuka College, Keuka Park, New York
Kodaikanal International School, Tamil Nadu, India
La Jolla High School
Lake Oswego High School, Lake Oswego, Oregon
Lampeter-Strasburg High School, Lampeter, Pennsylvania
Lehigh University
Léman Manhattan Preparatory School
Leon High School, Tallahassee, Florida
Lewis & Clark College
Lindbergh Senior High School, St. Louis, Missouri
Lingnan University ( Canton, China )
Lingnan University ( Hong Kong )
Lyman Hall High School (Wallingford, CT)
Martin Methodist College, (Pulaski, Tennessee)
Massanutten Military Academy (Woodstock, VA)
McDaniel College, Westminster, Maryland
Meadville Area Senior High School, Meadville, Pennsylvania
Mentor High School, Mentor, Ohio
Mercer University
Milan High School, Milan, Tennessee
Millsaps College, Jackson, MS, circa 1914
Milford High School, Milford, Massachusetts
Milton High School, Milton, Florida
Mississippi Valley State University
Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland
Mortimer Jordan High School, Kimberly, Alabama
Moravian College, J. Kenneth Pfohl, 1900
Munsang College, Kowloon
Murray State University, A.B. Austin, 1935
New Albany High School, New Albany, Indiana
New York Military Academy, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York
North Greenville University
North Dallas High School, Dallas, Texas
Northampton Area High School, Northampton, Pennsylvania
Northern Lehigh High School, Slatington, Pennsylvania
Oakdale High School, Oakdale, California
Oglethorpe County High School, Lexington, Georgia
Orange High School, Orange, California
Orangefield High School, Orange, TX
Ornellas High School, Pune, India
Oviedo High School, Oviedo, FL
Oxford High School, Oxford, Alabama
Palmyra Area High School, Palmyra, Pennsylvania
Paulsboro High School, Paulsboro, New Jersey
Peach County High School, Fort Valley, Georgia
Peninsula Catholic High School, Newport News, Virginia
Pennsbury High School, Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
Pensacola High School, Pensacola, Florida
Perkiomen School, Pennsburg, PA, 1911, lyrics by Al Dubin
Pflugerville High School, Pflugerville, Texas
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Evansville, Indiana
Pilot Point High School, Pilot Point, Texas
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
Prosper High School, Prosper, Texas
Raytown High School, Raytown, Missouri
John H. Reagan High School, Houston, Texas
Redlands High School, Redlands, California
Reinhardt University, Waleska, Georgia
Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin
Roanoke Bible College, Sarah P. Bondurant, 1948
Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy, Chicago, IL
Robert Morris University, Moon Township, PA
Round Rock High School, Round Rock, Texas
St. John's Preparatory School, Danvers, Massachusetts
Saint Lukes School, New Canaan, Connecticut, 1927
Siuslaw High School, Florence, Oregon
Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe, Texas
Snyder High School, Snyder, Texas
Soochow University, Taipei (in Chinese)
Soochow University, Suzhou, China (in Chinese)
Sparrows Point High School, Sparrows Point, Maryland
Spotswood High School (Virginia), Penn Laird, Virginia
Spotsylvania High School, Spotylvania, Virginia
Straughn High School, Andalusia, Alabama, 1886
Stuart Hall School, Staunton, Virginia, 1843
Jinling High School, Nanjing, China (in Chinese)
Lingnan University (Hong Kong)
Navasota Junior High School, Navasota, Texas
Rosman High School, Rosman, North Carolina
Salem Washington Academy, Salem New York
Saint Marys High School, Saint Marys, West Virginia
Sandy Valley Jr./Sr. High School, Magnolia, Ohio
Shawnee Mission North High School, Shawnee Mission, Kansas
The Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis, Indiana
Sodus High School, Sodus, New York
South Lamar High School, Millport, Alabama
Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Stanton College Preparatory School, Jacksonville, Florida
Stuyvesant High School, New York, New York
Southern Nazarene University, Bethany, Oklahoma
Swarthmore College
Syracuse University, Junius W. Stevens, 1893
T.L. Hanna High School, Anderson, SC
Tallassee High School (Tallassee, Alabama)
Tecumseh High School (Michigan), (Tecumseh, Michigan)
TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Ankara, Turkey (Turkish lyrics by Yusuf Mardin)
Tennessee Temple University
Tennessee Wesleyan College
Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, Texas
Texas Leadership Charter Academy, San Angelo, Texas
The Chinese High School, Singapore (in Chinese)
The Great China University (1924-1951), Shanghai, China (in Chinese)
Theodore Roosevelt High School, Kent, Ohio
Thornton Academy, Saco, Maine
Torrance High School (Torrance, California)
Tucker High School (Tucker, Georgia)
Unioto High School (Chillicothe, Ohio)
University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
University of Alabama, Helen Vickers, 1908
University of Central Oklahoma
University of Georgia, J.B. Wright, Jr., 1912; (additional verse by Gail Carter Dendy, 1974)
University of Kansas, George Penny, 1891
University of Missouri, G.A. Wauchope, 1895
University of Nevada, Reno
University of North Alabama, Florence, AL
University of North Carolina, William Starr Myers, 1897
University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
Vanderbilt University, Robert F. Vaughn, 1907
Vallejo Sr. High School, Vallejo, CA
Western Carolina University
Western Washington University
Westerville Central High School
Westside High School Anderson, South Carolina
West Orange-Stark High School
William Byrd High School, Vinton, VA
Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota
Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, VA
Woodrow Wilson High School, Portsmouth, VA
Woodward High School, Woodward, OK
White Plains High School, Anniston, AL
Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
Xavier University of Louisiana
Down where the waving willows
’Neath the sunbeams smile,
Shadow’d o’er the murm’ring waters
Dwelt sweet Annie Lisle;
Pure as the forest lily,
Never tho’t of guile
Had its home within the bosom
Of sweet Annie Lisle.
CHORUS
Wave willows, murmur waters,
Golden sunbeams, smile!
Earthly music cannot waken
Lovely Annie Lisle.
Sweet came the hallow’d chiming
Of the Sabbath bell,
Borne on the morning breezes
Down the woody dell.
On a bed of pain and anguish
Lay dear Annie Lisle,
Chang’d were the lovely features,
Gone the happy smile.
[CHORUS]
"Raise me in your arms, O Mother;
Let me once more look
On the green and waving willows
And the flowing brook.
Hark! the sound of angel music
From the choirs above!
Dearest mother, I am going;
Surely God is love."
[CHORUS]
The tune played as the Alma Mater of Springfield College on the TV show Father Knows Best, season 6, episode 8, "Margaret's Old Flame".
The tune is used in the parting song for the Kellerman Resort in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, as well as the tune sung by the Purdue University students in the 1953 film Titanic.
The tune was featured in Hey Arnold! as the school song of PS-118
The tune was used for the Civil War battle song "Ellsworth's Avengers" [words by A. Lora Hudson, musical adaptation by S. L. Coe] paying tribute to Col. Elmer Ellsworth, the first Union officer killed in the conflict. He was shotgunned by the innkeeper after removing a confederate flag from the rooftop of an Alexandria, Virginia hotel.
