State Toast of North Carolina

by Steve Case, 2012.

The following toast was officially adopted as the State Toast of North Carolina by the General Assembly of 1957.

The toast was written by Leonora Martin and Mary Burke Kerr and was first read publicly on May 20, 1904 in Richmond, Virginia, at a gathering of the North Carolina Society.

Session Laws, 1957, c. 777.

S. B. 305, CHAPTER 777

[2]

AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN OFFICIAL TOAST TO THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.

WHEREAS, in 1927 by the enactment of Chapter 26 of the Public Laws of that year, "The Old North State" was established as the State's official song; and

WHEREAS, the song "A Toast", was written by Leonora Martin and Mary Burke Kerr as a toast to the Old North State, and dedicated it to the children of North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, it is deemed appropriate at this time that this song be adopted as the official toast to North Carolina: Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. The song referred to above as "A Toast" to North Carolina is hereby adopted and declared to be the official toast to the State of North Carolina, said toast being in words as follows:

Here's to the land of the long leaf pine [3],
The summer land where the sun doth shine,
Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great, [4]
Here's to "Down Home," the Old North State!

Here's to the land of the cotton bloom white,
Where the scuppernong [5] perfumes the breeze at night,
Where the soft southern moss and jessamine mate,
'Neath the murmuring pines [3] of the Old North State!

Here's to the land where the galax grows,
Where the rhododendron's [6] rosette glows,
Where soars Mount Mitchell's [7]summit great,
In the "Land of the Sky," in the Old North State!

Here's to the land where maidens* are fair, [8]
Where friends are true and cold hearts rare,
The near land, the dear land, whatever fate,
The blest land, the best land, the Old North State!

Sec. 2. All laws and clauses of laws in conflice with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 3. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 21st day of May, 1957

*A maiden is a girl or young woman.

References and additional resources:

Holmes, J. S. 1930. "Origin of the state toast." Conservation and Industry. June, 1930. p. 15.

North Carolina General Assembly. 1957. "An Act establishing an Offical Toast to the State of North Carolina." Session Laws, Chapter 777. Online at http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,310980 [9].

North Carolina General Assembly. General Statutes. Chapter 149-2. "'A Toast' to North Carolina." Online at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_149/GS_149-2.html [10].

Image Credits:

Buie, Elizabeth, 2005. "Spanish Moss Overhangs The Lumber River."Robeson County, NC. Image made available from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebuie/3673372683/ [2] (accessed March 15, 2012).

Coin, Patrick, 2011. "Carolina Jessamine." Bentonville, North Carolina.  Image made available from http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcoin/5644887267/ [4] (accessed March 15, 2012).

Sutherland, Zen, 2005. "Galax Flower Close Up." Image made available from http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/8056014/ [8] (accessed March 15, 2012).