The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-18
Chorus.-Advance the flag OF Dixie!
Hurrah Hurrah!
For Dixie's land wen take our stand
To i've or die for Dixie.

To arms! To arms!
| And conquer peace for Dixie!
To arms To arms
! And conquer peace for Dixle
Hear the northern thunders mutter!
Northern flags in south winds hutter
Send them back your fierce defiance!
stamp upon the accursed alliance
Fear no danger! Shun no labori
Lift up rifle, pike and saber!
| shoulder pressing close to shoulder,
| Let the odds make each heart bolder!
How the south's great heart rejoices
| AT your cannonS ringing voices,
| For faith betrayed and pledges broken,
Wrongs inflicted, Insults spoken.
Strong as lions, swift as eagles,
| Back to their kennels hunt these beagles!
| Cut the unequal bonds asunder
Let them hence each other plumber!
| Swear upon your country's altar
| Never to submit or falter
| Till the spoilers are defeated.
| Till the Lords work is completed
Halt not till our federation
Secures among earth's powers its station!
| Then at peace and crowned with glory,
| Hear your children tell the story!
II the loved ones weep in sadness
| Victory soon shall bring them gladness;
| Exultant pride soon Danish sorrow.
Smiles chase tears away tomorrow.
A writer for the New Orleans Delta, in
an issue OF that paper published some years
ago. gives, as below, his opinion of the
origin Of "Dixe:"
81 do not wish to spoil pretty illusion,
but the real truth is. that Dixie is an in
digenous northern negro refrain as COM
| mon to the writer as.tbe lamp posts in New
York city seventy or seventy-five years
ago. 1t was one of the every
day illusions of boys at that time
| in all their outdoor sports. And no one
ever heard of Dixie's land being other than
Manhattan Island until recently, when it
has been erroneousy supposed to refer to
the south, from its connection with pathetic
negro allegory. When slavery existed in
| New York, one Dizzy owned a large tract
of land on Manhattan Island, and a large
number Of slaves. The increase of the
slaves and the increase Of the abolition
sentiment, caused An emigration of the
slaves to more thorough and secure slave
sections; and the negroes who were thus
sent Off many being born there) naturally
looked back to their old homes, where they
| had lived in clover, with feelings of regret,
| as they could not imagine any place like
| Dixy's. Hence 1t became synonymous with
an ideal locality, combining ease, comfort
| and material happiness of every descrip-
| ton. In those days negro singing and
minstrelsy were in their infancy, and any
subject that could be wrought into a ballad
| was eagerly picked up. This was the case
with Dixie 1t originated in New York,
and assumed the proportions Of song
| there. In its travels it has been enlarged
and has gathered moss 1t has picked up
a note here and there. A chorus has
been added to it; and from an indistinct
chant OF two or three notes, it has become
an elaborate melody. But the fact
that 1t is not a southern song cannot be
rubbed out The fallacy is 30 popular to
the contrary that have thus been at pains
to state the real origin OF it."
| A writer in the Charleston Courier I'M
der date of June II, 1861. says "Dixie is an
| old northern negro air, and that the words
| referred to one Dix, or Dizzy who had an
estate on Manhattan Island, now New Y ork
CITY,"
Southern sentiment would, indeed, re-
| ceive severe shock if these two newspaper
articles contained all that could be learned
| concerning The Dixie refrain. Fortunately,
| however, l have information from another
source that will prove very soothing
| TO southern feelings after what has been
given above. From letter recently re-
ceIved from Gen. James Longstreet of
| Gainesville, Ga, | present this extract:
Yours, referring to the origin Of the
confederate song Of Dixie, is received and
noted.
writing from memory, one cannot claim
|
only give recollections of the matter. 1t
| originated with the southern boys at the
| military academy at West Point and sprung
| from their admiration of northern
man, named Dixie, who took a noble stand
| upon the question of southern rights He
had moved south and lived among us many
| years. The song came afterward."
Gen. Longstreet became a graduate OF
West Point in the year 1912. He is pre-em-
inently man OF "reminiscences, aud, as
| every one knows, is especially regarded as
| authority upon all matters pertaining to
| the civil war, or in any way associated with
1t. The information he has contributed
in this instance will, therefore, be recog-
nized as, in the highest degree, valuable.
By Gen. Longstreet's account, the man
| Dixie is certainly placed in a very much
more enviable light than he is by the cor
respondent Of the New Orleans Delta, who
leads us to believe that, upon the increase
of the abolition sentiment, the shrewd
| Dixie disposed of his slaves to unsuspecting
southerners, thus terrifying himself against
the possible loss OF property which might
| accrue from the agitation regarding slavery
| then prevailing at the north.
| The origin of the song "Dixie,n as indi-
Gated by Gen. Longstreet makes it appear
peculiarly fitting that this song should go
forth to the world as the national air Of the.
| confederacy.
| How much the cause of freedom, In
every country, owes to its patriotic airs,
can never be calculated.
| That certain sounds awaken certain emor
tons is true, even among the lower orders
of the animal world. l once saw a pet
hooking bird which was always aroused to
frenzy by the sound OF the tearing of cloth.
and never failed to give, in return, a SINH
larly discordant note, expressive of resent
| ment.
To southern soldiers there was inspiration
In every note of the Dixie melody. Songs
like Dixie" embodying the spirit of a
nation, live forever in the hearts OF its peo-
pie.
Yankee Doodle" though hoary with the
winters of more than hundred years, aud
though the name Of its author has passed
from the annals Of history, still lives to re-
mind US of the independent spirit of our
revolutionary fathers, when they said to
England. we will have none of your tea if
to obtain the luxury we must sacrifice our
| principles.
1t Is related that on a public occasion.
soon after the surrender of some of the con-
| federate troops President lincoln ordered a
northern band to play "Dixie." Upon hear
| ing an expression Of surprise at the selection
of an al 80 intimately associated with the
southern cause, the President replied:
Have we not captured the song with the
| rebel troopsm Captured 1t may have been,
but wherever sung it still proclaimed the
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