What English song supplied the melody for the U.S. national anthem?

The Anacreontic Song supplied the melody later used for the U.S. national anthem.

The song was associated with the Anacreontic Society, an eighteenth-century gentlemen’s musical club in London. Its lyrics are generally attributed to Ralph Tomlinson, while the music is credited to English composer John Stafford Smith. The tune was also known by its opening words, “To Anacreon in Heaven.”

During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about seeing the American flag over Fort McHenry after the British bombardment of Baltimore. The poem, originally titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” was fitted to the familiar melody and eventually became “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Congress designated that song as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. The anthem’s tune therefore predates both Key’s lyrics and the United States’ official adoption of the song.