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P. A. Stonemann, CSS Dixieland

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CSS Dixieland

Probing the depths of knowledge

These essays by P. A. Stonemann, CSS Dixieland, cover a wide range of historical, philosophical, scientifical and technical subjects. Each page deals with a particular topic, divided into sections and explained by itself. Every page shows at its top hyper links to every other page. The Start page also has short descriptions of the other pages. CSS Dixieland expresses gratitude to the readers that make this work meaningful.

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Country Music page

History and records of North American Old Time Root Music

The Blue Grass Champs, one of the various formations of the Stoneman Family

Sections in this page

  History of Old Time Country Music
  Records of Old Time Country Music
  Hyper links to Old Time Country Music

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Legal note: All records offered here from the server of CSS Dixieland are well over fifty years old, some records are over a hundred years old. They are all believed to be in the Public Domain, therefore readers are invited to download them if they wish and they have the means to do so. For this purpose, information is provided on running time, storage size and audio or video format of each record. Hyper links to external servers may point to records still protected by authoral rights. In this case playing the record is usually permitted, but downloading or distribution may not be permitted. Readers are advised to check conditions from external servers, as it is not the responsibility of CSS Dixieland to warn the reader of the highly diverse legal permissions maintained by external servers.

The Sons of the Pioneers, starring Roy Rogers (at the centre, with guitar)

History of Old Time Country Music

'Country Music is the living image of Southron Culture, a fusion of the varied and sometimes antagonistic elements of Southron Life'.
Declared by Michael Bane in 'Hillbilly Band', published in 'Country Music' magazine in March 1977.

'Country Music is all Confederate Music because it is about defeat, violence, and the realities of man as both good and evil'.
Declared by Tom Connelly, published in 'The State and The Columbia Record' in March 1983.

'I don't think we could have an army without music'.
Declared by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Chronology

1607: Foundation of Jamestown as the first permanent English colony in the American continents. Jamestown is the cradle of Old Virginia, of the Dixie People, and of the Confederate Nation. The English colony of Newfoundland (located in what is today Canada) is older, but Newfoundland was at that time only a seasonal fishing port with temporary dwellings for fishing crews, it was not a permanent settlement. The English colony of Plymouth (located in what is today Massachussetts, United States) was founded in 1620, and therefore it is thirteen years younger than Jamestown, in spite of ignorant Yankee claims to Plymouth as being the 'oldest' English colony in the Americas.

Folk ballads of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon origin from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England enter North America, initially through Jamestown with the first migrants. Among the oldest known ballads are:

'The Boy with the Auburn Hair', Irish Traditional, on which music was composed in 1863 the Confederate song 'The Southron Soldier Boy'.

'Whisky Before Breakfast', Irish Traditional.

'Will You Go, Lassie, Go', Irish Traditional, later renamed 'Wild Mountain Thyme' in the Appalachian Mountains.

'Bridget Cruise', by the Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738).

'Hewlett', also by Turlough O'Carolan.

'Seeds Of Love', English traditional, with lyrics written round 1689.

'Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes', a translation made in 1616 by the English writer Ben Jonson of lyrics composed by Philostratus, Athenian poet who lived in the III century. The music of the English version has been credited to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

'Flow Gently, Sweet Afton', Scotch Traditional.

'Mc Leod's Reel', Scotch Traditional.

'Bonnie Dundee', Scotch Traditional: in 1641 the National Covenant had been signed by thousands of Lowland Presbyterian Scots against the Church of England. Many signed with their own blood and wore red cloths round their necks as insignia. 'Red neck' became a North English term for religious dissenters, while Dundee and his Scotch Highlanders became known as 'The Terror of the Covenanters'. In 1863 a Confederate song with this music was composed in honour to Confederate Cavalry General J. E. B. Stuart.

'John Riley', Scotch Traditional: from 1717 to about 1800 three great waves of Lowland 'Red neck' Scots migrated to Pennsylvania (United States), whence they later moved South, to North Carolina (Confederate States). John Riley was one of the first migrants.

'Green Grows The Laurel', Scotch Traditional: during the British Dynastic War between the Scotch House of Stuart and the Dutch House of Orange, the loyals of 'Bonnie Prince' Charles Stuart 'changed their laurels' (a Scotch symbol of fidelity) for the Stuart's blue bonnet, while those of William Prince of Orange 'changed their laurels' for the Orange's blue and orange colours. After controlling much of Scotland and seriously menacing England, the Stuarts were defeated at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

'Auld Lang Syne', Scotch Traditional: the King of England Charles I Stuart (of Scotch origin) was executed in 1649 by the Commonwealth Republic of Oliver Cronwell. The loyals of the King (known as 'Cavaliers') used this phrase meaning 'old long since' as a password for reciprocal recognition, supposedly not to be understood by the Republicans (known as 'Roundheads'). Poems with the title 'Auld Lang Syne' appeared in those turbulent years before the Restauration of the Stuarts in the Throne of England, by military action of General Monk. About 1793 the Scotch writer Robert Burns composed some of the verses, while a friend musician adapted it to a Lowland Scotch tune.

About 1800: Influenced by spiritual songs commonly executed a cappella or accompanied by a primitive banjo, by blacks at agricultural plantations, some white musicians (usually with the face painted in black) begin to perform Minstrel songs at preaching shows or at medicine shows. Those white performers often incorporated the banjo. The traditional instrument of Minstrel Music is thus the Old Time banjo, also called Clawhammer banjo, which is open at the back and of four natural gut strings played with the thumb. By comparison, the much later Blue Grass banjo is closed at the back and of five metallic strings played with three fingers. The Blue Grass banjo was introduced in 1945 by Earl Scruggs. One of the most important makers of Clawhammer banjo was George Teed in the 1860's.

About 1830: 'Jim Crow' is one of the earliest known Minstrel songs, performed by Big Daddy Thomas D. Rice.

1842: First known black-faced Minstrel band, The Virginia Minstrels, of Daniel Decatur Emmett (author of 'Dixie's Land', a song that in 1861 became the unofficial National Anthem of the Confederate States of America).

About 1845: Stephen Foster becomes another well known Minstrel, with songs like 'Oh, Susanna', ubiquitous during the California Gold Rush (in 1849), during the War of Kansas (in the late 1850's), and during the War for Confederate Independence (in 1861).

1877: Thomas Edison in the United States and Charles Cros in France patent the tinfoil cylinder phonograph.

About 1880: Appalachian folk tunes are scholarly researched and found to be mostly British folk ballads, sometimes combined with Minstrel songs or also with Godspel black spirituals of plantations. Black Godspel derives from black spirituals of 1800 or earlier. White Godspel is more clearly originated from Church songs, but it became somewhat influenced by black spirituals since 1880. The purest spirituals are sung a cappella or with very few instruments, maybe only a banjo. One of the oldest spirituals is 'Old Man River' (black name of the River Mississippi). The most important names in White Godspel were the Carter Family of Virginia in 1926, Albert E. Brumley with 'I'll Fly Away' in 1931, and later the Lewis Family, the Statler Brothers, and the Oak Ridge Boys. Other styles of music and dance such as Hoedown, Barbershop Quartet, or Square Dance, also became prominent in the 1880's, although they were older.

1885: Chichester Bell and Charles Tainer replace the tinfoil of the phonograph by waxed cardboard.

1887: Emile Berliner patents the lateral cut flat disc gramophone.

1891: First phonograph cylinders, featuring Opera singers.

23rd April 1900: The word 'Hillbillie' appears printed for the first time, in the New York Journal. Hillbilly is the name given by researchers of the late XIX century to tunes supposed to have originated in the Appalachians, not just kept as an inheritance of British Folk Ballads. The Old Time banjo, already mentioned in connection with Minstrel Music, is also the traditional instrument of Hillbilly Music. Other traditional instruments are the fiddle, the mandolin, the counter-bass, the harp, and the Appalachian dulcimer. The dobro and the steel guitar were incorporated later. Sometimes the tambourine, the mouth harmonica, the flute, the whistle and the birimbau are also used, as well as daily objects such as bones, glass bottles or wash boards, but brass is not used in pure old Hillbilly.

1906: Victor (His Master's Voice) markets the first victrola gramophone, of 78 turns per minute.

1907: Lee de Forest invents the triode thermionic valve (vacuum tube), making feasible the Marconi's invention of wireless telegraphy (transmission of Morse signals by air waves) and of radiophony (transmission of sounds by air waves).

1909: The humourous country tale 'Uncle Josh' is recorded.

30th June 1922: A.C. Eck Robertson (Texas) and Henry C. Gilliland (Indian Territory) record for Victor in New York.

9th September 1922: Fiddler John Carson (Atlanta, Georgia) broadcasts from WSB Atlanta. Shortly later other Georgians also broadcast their music: fiddler Clayton McMichen, Riley Pucket and Andrew Jenkins, this one receives from Polk C. Brockman an offer to record 'Floyd Collins'.

April 1923: Henry Whitter (Virginia) records for Okeh in New York.

14th June 1923: John Carson receives from Ralph S. Peer an offer to record for Okeh in Atlanta.

1923: WBAP Fort Worth (Texas) begins the first radio barn dance.

1924: Vernon Dalhart records 'The Wreck of the Old 97', a song of Henry Whitter, for Edison in Atlanta.

1924: WLS Chicago begins the second radio barn dance, with distribution of flyleaves containing the lyrics. Some of the best known artists are Ford and Glenn, Chubby Parker, and Grace Wilson.

1924: Southron States series of Vocalion. Old Times Tunes series of Okeh.

About 1925: Tex-Mex Music begins in Texas, combining Hillbilly, German Polka, Mexican Corrido and Mexican Ranchera. Two important artists of this music in the 1970's were Johnny Cash and Charlie Daniels.

1925: Vernon Dalhart records again 'The Wreck of the Old 97', plus 'The Prisoner's Song', this time for Victor.

1925: Al Hopkins and his Hillbillies record for Okeh in New York.

Evening of 29th November 1925: George Dewey Hay, a promoter of wireless radio shows, begins the third radio barn dance with Uncle Jimmy Thompson in WSM Nashville, inaugurating the Nashville Sound. Other artists who became known at that time were Humphrey Bate and Deford Bailey.

1925: Old Familiar Melodies series of Columbia. First electric (non acoustic) records by Victor and Columbia.

1926: The Skillet Lickers. The Peer Southron Organisation.

1926-1960's: The Carter Family. This musical family began in Virginia in 1926 with Maybelle Carter, her sister and her brother-in-law. In the late 1940's, the original band being inactive, Maybelle Carter and her daughters formed another band known as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, later renamed The Carter Family, which had been the name of the original formation in 1926. The second Carter Family was active into the 1960's, performing the most traditional form of Old Time Country Music. Some members of the family continued in activity after the death of Mother Maybelle.

1927: The WSM Nashville radio barn dance is re-named Grand Ole Opry.

1927: The Carter Family, the Tenneva Ramblers, Jimmie Rodgers, and Alfred Karnes record for Victor in Bristol, Tennessee. This historical event is known in Country Music as 'The Bristol Sessions'. Important names such as Ernest V. Pop Stoneman acted as talent scouts.

1928: The Stonemans (also known as The Stonemann Family, and originally formed as Ernest V. Pop Stoneman and The Dixie Mountaineers).

1928: Old Familiar Tunes series and Grand Ole Opry series, both of Victor.

About 1929: Musique Cajun in Louisiana, based on an old tradition of French Creole Music combined with British, German and Spanish elements. The style called Zydeco combines also black elements. Typical instruments in both styles are the fiddle and the accordion.

1929: 'Why do You Bob You Hair, Girls ?', by Blind Alfred Reed.

1929: Gene Autry records in New York and becomes a famous 'singing cowboy' in the Westron Swing style.

1929: 'The Singing Brakeman', a short film of Jimmie Rodgers, is the first Country Music in cinematography.

October 1929: The enormous economical crisis leaves many men to ramble about, seeking for a pittance to survive. It begins the tradition of Hobo travelling songs with Woody Guthrie in late 1929 and with Fred Rose in 1930. Inspired in part in North American aboriginal tribal music, Hobo lyrics typically relate the exploitation of itinerant labourers and their forced or chosen wanderlust.

About 1930: Honky Tonk Music begins in Texas. It is an electrified Hillbilly, more rythmical than melodical. One of its first artists is Al Dexter.

1930: 'Song of the Saddle', of Ken Maynard, is the first long film featuring Country Music.

1930: The Dixieliners. The Alladin's Laddies (later re-named the Light Crust Doughboys).

1930: XER del Rio is the first Country Music radio station in Mexico, located in Nuevo Leon, very near the border line with Texas.

1931: 'Green Grow the Lilacs', by Tex Ritter, Country Music show in New York.

1932: Montana Slim records for Victor (he had done before some small records in Canada).

1932: The Musical Brownies. Homer and Jethro.

1933: Lulu Belle and Scotty. Bob Wills and his Playboys (in 1934 re-named the Texas Playboys, when they moved to KVOO Tulsa).

1933: First WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, Virginia.

1934: The Pioneer Trio (shortly later re-named Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers).

1934: 'In Old Santa Fe', of Gene Autry and Ken Maynard, is the second long film featuring Country Music.

1935: The Crazy Mountaineers.

1936: Roy Acuff. The Monroe Brothers. The Blue Sky Boys. The Dixon Brothers. Ernest Tubb and the Bailes Brothers.

1936-1960's: Ernest Tubb. With his always strong and joyful manners, Ernest Tubb was seen as one of the prototypes of the singing cowboy.

1936-1990's: Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. The Monroe Brothers began in 1936. After the death of his brother, Bill Monroe formed the Blue Grass Boys and created a unique style known as 'Blue Grass'. For this, Bill Monroe was known as 'The Father of Blue Grass Music'. He remained active in Blue Grass Music for sixty years, until his death in the late 1990's.

1937: The Golden West Cowboys join the Grand Ole Opry.

1937: WLW Cincinnati begins the Renfro Valley Barn Dance.

1938: Tom T. Hall, Merle Travis.

1938: The Smokey Mountain Boys join the Grand Ole Opry.

1938: Bill Monroe (from the Monroe Brothers) and the Blue Grass Boys.

1939: Red River Dave makes in New York the first Country Music performance on television.

1939: Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys join the Grand Ole Opry, which becomes regularly broadcast from NBC Radio Network.

1930's-1960's: Rose Maddox was the star of a band formed with her many brothers (she was the only female sibling), whose musical style is known as Hillbilly Boogie, a perfect bridge between the traditions of Hillbilly Country Music and of Rockabilly. Besides their highly attractive sound, they also were the most colourful band on stage, always featuring a plethora of festive Country and Westron dressing styles.

1941: The Grand Ole Opry moves to the Ryman Auditorium.

1941: Billboard magazine begins its list of top Hillbillie hits.

1943: Ernest Tubb and the Bailes Brothers join the Grand Ole Opry, which becomes broadcast by the United States Armed Forces.

1943: Roy Acuff and Fred Rose establish in Nashville the first Country Music publishing house.

1945: Earl Scruggs introduces a new kind of banjo, closed at the back and of five metallic strings played with three fingers, in the band of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, where he also meets Lester Flatt.

1946: The combined style of Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs is named Blue Grass Music, and the new kind of banjo becomes known as Blue Grass banjo.

1946: Hank Williams records for Sterling, mostly in the Honky Tonk style. Being now perhaps the most famous legend of Country Music, Hank Williams performed mainly in the Honky-Tonk style. He died suddenly while travelling, maybe of kidney failure (he was heavily inclined to alcohol). His son and his first wife (he married twice) continued their artistic performances after the death of Hank Williams.

1947: First magnetic recording tapes.

1947: KRLD Dallas begins the Big D Jamboree.

1948: Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs separate from the band of Bill Monroe. Flatt and Scruggs had begun in 1945 as part of the Blue Grass Boys, the band of Bill Monroe. In 1948 Flatt and Scruggs separated from the Blue Grass Boys and formed their own band, named Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt and the Foggy Mountain Boys. Legend has it that Monroe never again talked to them, not even greeting them when they met at some festival. The Foggy Mountain Boys continued and improved the Blue Grass style that had been begun by Bill Monroe.

1948: First long play vynil disc (of 33 turns per minute), by Columbia.

1949: First single vynil disc (of 45 turns per minute), by RCA.

1949: Hank Williams joins the Grand Ole Opry.

1952: 'High Noon', a song of Tex Ritter, wins an Oscar as the best music in a film (the film is also entitled 'High Noon', starring Gary Cooper).

1950's: Blue Grass becomes the shrine of our oldest and most cherished traditions, with gigantic figures such as the already mentioned band of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, the band of Flatt, Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, plus other important names such as Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Jim and Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys, Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys, Fisher Hendley and his Aristocratic Pigs, the Carolina Tar Heels, the North Carolina Ramblers, Vassor Clements, Doc Watson, and Blue Grass Experience.

1954: 'Rock Around the Clock', a song of Bill Haley and the Comets, is the first Rockabilly in a film. Rockabilly combines Rock and Roll with Honky Tonk and Hillbilly, using some electric instruments and brass drums. Some of its best known artists were Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, Eddie Cochrane, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Brenda Lee.

1950's-1990's: A child prodigy, Brenda Lee began her musical career being extremely young, one of the youngest in Country Music History. She also performed memorable Rock and Roll songs. P. A. Stonemann had the honour of seeing her in person in a Marlboro Country Music festival, organised by the famous tobacco brand.

1950's-1990's: In the line of celebrities like Elvis Presley, Wanda Jackson was known as the Feminine Rock and Roll Star par excellence. She performed Country Music and Rockabilly like few other women in the History of our Music. Later she turned her talent to Godspel Music.

1961: First Country Music Encyclopedia, by Linnell Gentry.

1961: First Country Music Hall of Fame.

1962: The first Country Music Research Center, 'John Edwards Memorial', is incorporated to U.C.L.A.

1962: 'The Beverly Hillbillies', a music of Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, becomes the first Country Music regularly performed on a television series (the series is also entitled 'The Beverly Hillbillies').

1965: Foundation of the Academy of Country and Western Music.

1965: First Blue Grass Festival, in Fincastle, Virginia.

1966: 'Picture History of Country and Western Music', by Goldblatt and John Shelton Reed.

1966: First issue of Blue Grass Unlimited magazine.

1967: First annual award of the Country Music Association.

1967: Opening of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

1972: Opening of the Country Music Foundation Library and Media Center.

1974: The Grand Ole Opry moves to Opryland.

Bibliography

'Country Music Encyclopedia', by Linnell Gentry, 1961.

'Picture History of Country and Western Music', by Goldblatt and John Shelton Reed, 1966.

'Southron Music, American Music', by Bill Malone. Kentucky University Press, Lexington 1979.

'Country Music U.S.A.', by Bill Malone. Texas University Press, Austin 1985.

Tunes probably originated in Dixie

The Alabama Created in 1863. Honouring the Confederate States Ship Alabama, commanded by Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes.

Amazing Grace

The Arkansas Traveller

Aura Lea Created in 1861.

Blue Tail Fly Created in 1846.

Boatman's Dance

The Bonnie Blue Flag Lyrics by Harry McCarthy in 1861. Music from 'The Irish Jaunting Car'. First interpreted by Harry McCarthy in Jackson, Mississippi, in mid June 1861. The song is also known as 'We Are a Band of Brothers', a title inspired on the speech of Saint Crispin Day, in the theatrical play 'Henry V' (fourth act, second scene), by William Shakespeare.

As 'The Bonnie Blue Flag' has rather long lyrics (original given below), it is common to interpret shorter versions of the song. An example is given in the following record, in which only the first and last stanzas are sung (eliminating the other five stanzas), then the last two lines are repeated:

The Bonnie Blue Flag, interpreted by the Army Band and Chorus
Recorded in 1963
Running time: 67 seconds. Storage size: 2.2 Megabytes. Video format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Four
confederate_army_band-the_bonnie_blue_flag-1963.mp4

We are a band of brothers and native to the soil
fighting for our liberty with treasure, blood and toil
and when our rights were threatened the cry rose near and far
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !
hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

As long as the Union was faithful to her trust
like friends and like brethren, kind were we, and just
but now, when Northron treachery attempts our rights to mar
we hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star
hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand
then came Alabama and took her by the hand
next, quickly Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida
all raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star
hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

Ye men of valor gather round the banner of the right
Texas and fair Louisiana join us in the fight
Davis, our loved President, and Stephens statesmen are
now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star
hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

Now here's to brave Virginia, the Old Dominion State
who with the young Confederacy at last has linked her fate
impelled by her example, now other states prepare
to hoist high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star
hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise a joyous shout
for Arkansas and North Carolina now also have gone out
and let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given
the single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be eleven
hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

Then here's to our Confederacy, strong we are and brave
like patriots of old we'll fight, our heritage to save
and rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer
so cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star
hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

The order of secession from the United States was not exactly as given in the song. Mississippi and Florida seceded before Alabama, Alabama seceded before Georgia, Louisiana seceded before Texas. The correct historical order is:

South Carolina: 20th December 1860
Mississippi: 9th January 1861
Florida: 10th January 1861
Alabama: 11th January 1861
Georgia: 18th January 1861 (sometimes given as 19th January 1861)
Louisiana: 26th January 1861
Texas: 1st February 1861
Virginia: 17th April 1861
Arkansas: 6th May 1861
North Carolina: 20th May 1861
Tennessee: 8th June 1861
The list given above forms the eleven states mentioned in the song at the time when it was composed (mid June 1861). On 8th August 1861 the Confederate Government recognised Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland (including in Maryland the part of Washington City North of the River Potomac) and Delaware as part of Dixie, pending their formal entry as part of the Confederate States.

Below, a version of 'The Bonnie Blue Flag' with different lyrics, version called 'The Gathering Song', composed by Confederate writer Annelizah Chambers Bradford Ketchum (1824-1904) in Memphis, Tennessee, at the request of a British diplomat. After publishing this version, the military commander of the Federal forces that occupied Memphis demanded Lady Annelizah to give oath of allegiance to the United States. She proudly replied that she was loyal to the Confederate States, and she refused allegiance to a foreign enemy. She was then ordered to abandon Memphis. She moved to Georgetown, Kentucky, her original town.

Come, brothers, rally for the right !
the bravest of the brave
sends forth his ringing battle cry
beside the Atlantic wave
she leads the way in honour's path
come, brothers, near and far
come, rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

Hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

We've borne the Yankee trickery
the Yankee gibe and sneer
till Northron insolence and pride
know neither shame nor fear
but ready now with shot and steel
their brazen front to mar
we holst aloft the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star

Hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

Now Georgia marches to the front
and close beside her come
her sisters of the Mexique sea
with pealing trump and drum
till answering back from hill and glen
the rallying cry afar
a nation holsts the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star

Hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

By every stone in Charleston Bay
by each beleaguered town
we swear to rest not night nor day
but hunt the tyrants down
till bathed in valor's holy blood
the gazing world afar
shall greet with shouts the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star

Hurray, hurray, for Southron rights hurray !
hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star !

The earliest known record of 'The Bonnie Blue Flag', a phonograph cylinder recorded in 1913 by Polk Miller and his Old South Quartet (Edison Blue Amberol number 2175):
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder1440

Buffalo Gals Lyrics and music by Cool White and the Virginia Serenaders, published in 1844 as 'Lubly Fan'.

Camptown Races

The Captain in his Whiskers Lyrics and music by Thomas Haynes Bayly in 1863, arranged by Francis Held in 1863.

Cindy Traditional.

Come Dearest, the Daylight is Gone

Congo River Traditional.

Cripple Creek Traditional.

Cumberland Gap Inspired on the music of 'McLeods Reel', Scotch traditional renamed 'Virginia Reel' in the Appalachians. That part of the Appalachians began White settlement in 1773, still in colonial times, when Daniel Boone crossed from Virginia the Cumberland Mountain Gap into what is now Kentucky and Tennessee. Most pioneers were Scotch, and English Scots accent predominates until today.

Dixie Doodle Lyrics by Margaret Weir in New Orleans in 1862. Music of 'Yankee Doodle', a Yankee song of the War for United States Independence of 1775-1783. The authoress dedicated her lively 'Dixie Doodle' to 'Our Dear Soldiers on the Battle Field'.

Dixie whipped old Yankee Doodle
early in the morning
so Yankeedom had best look out
and take a timely warning
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

Yankee Doodles soundly slept
upon their greasy pillows
while Dixie boys with muffled oars
were gliding over the billows
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

Yankee Doodles grease your heels
make ready to be running
for Dixie boys are near at hand
surpassing you in cunning
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

Anderson the gallant brave
who broke upon their slumbers
even little girls and boys shall sing
Your name in tuneful numbers
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

A thousand blessings on your heads
our brave unflinching leaders
a light you are upon the path
of all our brave seceders
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

Wright on Carolina's coast
was ever a hero bolder ?
he seized a Yankee foe and made
a breastwork of the soldier
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

Louisiana bold and brave
renowned for Creole beauty
Your champions will bear in mind
the watchword grace and booty !
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

Yankee Doodle fair thee well
ere long you'll be forgotten
while Dixie's notes shall gaily float
throughout the land of cotton
hurray for our Dixie Land !
hurray for our borders !
Southron boys to arms will stand
and whip the dark marauders !

Dixie's Land Lyrics and music by Daniel Decatur Emmett in 1859. In February 1861 it became the unofficial National Anthem of the Confederate States of America (the Official National Anthem is 'God Save the South'). It seems that the author received some collaboration for the song from the Snowden Family Band of Knox County, Ohio, who was a musical formation composed of Copperheads (people of Dixie origin or loyal to Dixie).

The first interpretation was by Jerry Bryant and the Bryant's Minstrels at Mechanics' Hall, in Broadway, New York, on Monday 4th April 1859. This band of about twelve members began the interpretation of 'Dixie's Land' with two or three singers, followed by the rest of the band playing and dancing, and finished with a fiddle solo instrumental slowly fading away. The original tempo was slower than what was usually played later. The Bryant's Minstrels in New York, the Rumsey and Newcomb Minstrels in New Orleans in March 1860, the Buckley's Serenaders in London in late 1860, and other Minstrel musicians, played at a slow tempo.

On 20th December 1860 the band played 'Dixie's Land' after each vote for secession at Saint Andrew's Hall in Charleston, South Carolina. On 18th February 1861 the song was played at the inauguration of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Montgomery, Alabama, arranged as a quickstep by Herman Frank Arnold, and possibly for the first time as a band arrangement. In May 1861 Confederate Henry Hotze commented that 'Dixie's Land' had become a national hit in the Confederate States.

This famous song had four early phonograph recordings: A band version by Issler's Orchestra in 1895, another band version by Gilmore's Band in 1896, yet another band version by the Edison Grand Concert Band in 1896, and a vocal version by George J. Gaskin in 1896. Countless other arrangers and interpreters have incorporated the song to their repertoire, sometimes with modified lyrics. Minstrel artists did not always pronounce correct English. Instead, they often mimicked the popular slang of the plantations. These are the original lyrics:

Dixie's Land, interpreted by the Army Band and Chorus
Recorded in 1963
Running time: 77 seconds. Storage size: 2.7 Megabytes. Video format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Four
confederate_army_band-dixies_land-1963.mp4

I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten
look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land
in Dixie Land where I was born in early on a frosty morning
look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land

and I wish I was in Dixie, hurray ! hurray !
in Dixie Land I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie
hurray ! hurray ! away down South in Dixie
hurray ! hurray ! away down South in Dixie

and I wish I was in Dixie, hurray ! hurray !
in Dixie Land I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie
hurray ! hurray ! away down South in Dixie
hurray ! hurray ! away down South in Dixie

A militant Confederate version named 'The War Song of Dixie', created by Albert Pike, published on the Natchez Courier on 30th May 1861:

Southrons, hear your country call you !
up ! lest worse than death befall you !
hear the Northron thunders mutter !
Northron flags in South wind flutter
send them back your fierce defiance !
stamp upon the cursed alliance !

Henry Throop Stanton created another militant Confederate version. Those and other war versions were often preferred by Confederate soldiers.

Do They Miss Me at Home ?

Down in the Valley

Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes Created in 1789.

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh Lyrics and music by William Shakespeare Hays, in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1862.

Fisher's Hornpipe Also known as 'Rickett's Hornpipe'.

Flop Eared Mule

For the Dear Old Flag I Die Lyrics by George Cooper. Music by Stephen Foster. The song interprets the last words of a brave little drummer boy who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863).

For the dear old Flag I die
said the wounded drummer boy
mother, press your lips to mine
oh, they bring me peace and joy !
'tis the last time on earth
I shall ever see your face
mother take me to your heart
let me die in your embrace

For the dear old Flag I die
mother, dry your weeping eye
for the honour of our land
and the dear old Flag I die

Do not mourn, my mother dear
every pang will soon be over
for I hear the angel band
calling from their starry shore
now I see their banners wave
in the light of perfect day
though 'tis hard to part with you
yet I would not wish to stay

For the dear old Flag I die
mother, dry your weeping eye
for the honour of our land
and the dear old Flag I die

Farewell mother, Death's cold hand
weighs upon my spirit now
and I feel his blighting breath
fan my pallid cheek and brow
closer, closer to your heart
let me feel that you are by
while my sight is growing dim
for the dear old Flag I die

For the dear old Flag I die
mother, dry your weeping eye
for the honour of our land
and the dear old Flag I die

The Glendy Burk Lyrics and music by Stephen Foster in 1855.

God Save the South Lyrics by George Henry Miles in 1861. Played with three different music scores:

Music by Charles Wolfgang Amadeus Ellerbrock in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1861
Music by C. T. de Cœniél in Richmond, Virginia, in 1861
Music of the British National Anthem 'God save the Queen'

'God Save the South' is the Official National Anthem of the Confederate States of America ('Dixie's Land' is well known, but it is not official). 'God Save the South' was the first song published after the foundation of the Confederate States (8th February 1861), and included as such in the book 'The Soldier's Companion', given to all Confederate soldiers during the War for Confederate Independence.

Going back to Dixie Lyrics and music by C. A. White in 1874.

Goober Peas

Green Grow the Lilacs Originally called 'Green grows the Laurel', traditional.

Hard Times Come Again no More Lyrics and music by Stephen Foster in 1854.

The Homespun Dress

Home Sweet Home Lyrics by John H. Payne. Music by Henry R. Bishop in 1823.

Hound Dog Song Traditional from the Ozark Mountains, between Arkansas and Missouri.

How Are You, John Morgan ? Lyrics and music by C. D. Benson, 1864. 'How Are You, John Morgan ?' is an addition of some lines to a song of the same author called 'Mister, Here is Your Mule', created by C. D. Benson, published in 1862 by C. D. Benson in Nashville, Tennessee, Confederate States, and by John Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The lines added by C. D. Benson in 1864 as 'How are You, John Morgan ?' are:

Then raise the shout, the glorious shout
John Morgan is caught at last
proclaim it loud, the land throughout
he is in to prison fast
upon his mule he is gone, they say
to Dixie's Promised Land
and at no very distant day
to lead a new command
come on, come on, come on, old man
and don't be made a fool
I'll tell you the truth as best I can:
'John Morgan has got your mule !'

Confederate Colonel John Hunt Morgan commanded courageous Cavalry troops that often raided enemy territory, mainly in Ohio. Colonel Morgan was captured in a dangerous raid in 1863, but in a short time he was the protagonist of a spectacular escape from the Federal military prison of Ohio. A Confederate version of unknown author was sung to the music of 'Maryland, My Maryland', and published in the Nashville Daily on 14th July 1863. Confederate General Braxton Bragg, mentioned in the song, had difficulties for rallying his troops at the Battle of Mission Ridge.

Hark ! Morgan's boys are on a raid
here's your mule, oh here's your mule !
to meet the foe they are not afraid
here's your mule, oh here's your mule !
and when bluecoats see them come
they stop the fire and break and run
and then begins John Morgan's fun
here's your mule, oh here's your mule !

Come Soldiers, listen to my lay
here's your mule, your long eared mule
I'll sing the warriors of the day
here's your mule, oh here's your mule !
old General Bragg, he leads the way
and moves his army twice a day
and once at night I have heard them say
here's your mule, your long eared mule

I Am a Good Old Rebel Lyrics by Confederate Major James Innes Randolph about 1865. Music based on the Minstrel song 'Joe Bowers'. It is not known who created the music for 'Joe Bowers', with a claim in 1864 attributing it to 'J. R. T.' and an 1866 sheet music copy ironically dedicating it to Thad Stevens.

'I Am a Good Old Rebel' is strongly anti-Federal, expressing deep hatred against the United States and their symbols, such as the Declaration of Independence of the United States (approved on 2nd July 1775, signed two days later by John Hancock, President of Congress at Philadelphia), and the Federal Constitution of the United States (ratified by the different States from 7th December 1787 to 29th May 1790).

That Federal Constitution terminated de facto (not de jure) the original Articles of Confederation of the United States, which had been approved by the different states from 1778 to 1781. The Articles of Confederation never were officially derogated, simply each State voluntarily abandoned the Articles (as States were entitled to do), and adopted the new Federal Constitution. The Confederate States of 1861 represent, in part, a return to the original Confederation of States.

'I Am a Good Old Rebel' reflects a conviction held by patriotic Confederates, who did not accept the invasion by the foreign occupation forces of the United States, and an expression of the bitterness and anger that Confederate nationalists felt after the Confederacy had lost the War, confronted to an industrial power tenfold its own, and with a more numerous population available for military enlistment.

'I Am a Good Old Rebel' was first published as a poem in Maryland in 1898, and published as a song in the 4th April 1914 edition of Collier's Weekly. Before publication, 'I am a Good Old Rebel' had been sung and passed through oral tradition all throughout Dixie. The published version initially contained only four verses, but individual artists have added their own verses to reflect their personal ideas against the United States 'and everything they do'.

Consuelo Montagu, Duchess of Manchester, once sang the song in London for the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VII). After the performance, the Prince requested a repetition of the song 'with the cuss words in it'.

The Robert mentioned in the song is Confederate General Robert E. Lee, of Virginia, Commander in Chief of all Confederate Forces. Point Lookout was a Federal camp for Confederate prisoners located in Maryland. The Confederate Marine Corps one time attacked the camp and liberated a number of prisoners.

Oh, I'm a good old rebel
now that's just what I am
for this 'fair land of freedom'
I do not care at all
I'm glad I fit against it
I only wish we'd won
and I don't want no pardon
for anything I've done

I hate the Constitution
this great republic too
I hate the Freedmans' Buro
in uniforms of blue
I hate the nasty eagle
with all his braggs and fuss
the lying thieving Yankees
I hate them wuss and wuss

I hate the Yankee nation
and everything they do
I hate the Declaration
of Independence, too
I hate the glorious Union
'tis dripping with our blood
I hate their striped banner
I fit it all I could

I followed old mas' Robert
for four year near about
got wounded in three places
and starved at Pint Lookout
I caught the rheumatism
a-camping in the snow
but I killed a chance of Yankees
I'd like to kill some more

Three hundred thousand Yankees
still in Southron dust
we got three hundred thousand
before they conquered us
they died of Southron fever
and Southron steel and shot
I wish they were three million
instead of what we got

I can't take up my musket
and fight them now no more
but I ain't going to love them
now that is sarten sure
and I don't want no pardon
for what I was and am
I won't be reconstructed
and I don't care a dam

Jackson in the Valley

Jenny, get your Hoecake done

Johnny Booker Also known as 'Jim along Josie'.

Johnny Reb Confederate Soldier Lyrics and music by Johnny Horton in the 1950's. A patriotic song honouring the anonymous Confederate soldier, known by the Federals as 'Johnny Reb' (meaning 'Johnny Rebel'). Similarly, the anonymous Federal soldier is known by the Confederates as 'Billy Yank' (meaning 'Billy Yankee'). Johnny Horton was a Country Music singer of great success in those unforgettable years of the 1950's.

Johnny Reb Confederate Soldier, interpreted by Johnny Horton
Running time: 143 seconds. Storage size: 3.3 Megabytes. Audio format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Three
confederate-johnny_horton-johnny_reb_confederate_soldier.mp3

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb
You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

I saw You a-marching with Robert E. Lee
You held Your head high trying to win the Victory
You fought for Your folks but You didn't die in vain
even though You lost they speak highly of Your name

Because You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb
You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

I heard Your teeth chatter from the cold outside
I saw the bullets open all the wounds in Your side
I saw the young boys as they began to fall
You had tears in Your eyes because You couldn't help at all

But You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb
You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

I saw General Lee raise a sabre in his hand
I heard the cannons roar as You made Your last stand
You marched into battle with the Grey and the Red
when the cannon's smoke cleared it took days to count the dead

Because You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb
You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

When honest Abe heard the news about Your fall
the folks thought he'd call a great Victory ball
but he asked the band to play the song Dixie
for You, Johnny Reb, and all that You believed

Because You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb
yeah, You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb
You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb
yeah, You fought all the way, Johnny Reb...

John Riley Traditional.

Johnson's Old Grey Mule

Join the Cavalry Also known as 'Jine the Cavalry'. This military song details many feats performed by Confederate Cavalry General J. E. B. Stuart, while the chorus urges the listener to 'join the cavalry'. This song was one of the favourites of General Stuart, and became the unofficial song of his Confederate Cavalry. It recounts many of the early exploits of General Stuart, including the daring 'Ride around the Army of the Potomac' in July 1862, and the Confederate Cavalry raid to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in October 1862. One of the men of General Stuart, soldier Sam Sweeney, was an accomplished banjo player and often serenaded Stuart and his officers during the Gettysburg Campaign.

We're the boys that rode around McClellan
rode around McClellan, Rode around McClellan
we're the boys that rode around McClellan
bully boys, hey ! Bully boys, ho !

If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry !
join the cavalry ! Join the cavalry !
if you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun
if you want to smell Hell, join the cavalry !

Old Joe Hooker, won't you come out of The Wilderness ?
come out of The Wilderness, come out of The Wilderness !
old Joe Hooker, won't you come out of The Wilderness ?
bully boys, hey ! Bully boys, ho !

If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry !
join the cavalry ! Join the cavalry !
if you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun
if you want to smell Hell, join the cavalry !

We're the boys who crossed the Potomac, who
crossed the Potomac, who crossed the Potomac
we're the boys who crossed the Potomac
bully boys, hey ! Bully boys, ho !

If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry !
join the cavalry ! Join the cavalry !
if you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun
if you want to smell Hell, join the cavalry !

We're the boys that rode to Pennsylvania
rode to Pennsylvania, rode to Pennsylvania
we're the boys that rode to Pennsylvania
bully boys, hey ! Bully boys, ho !

If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry !
join the cavalry ! Join the cavalry !
if you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun
if you want to smell Hell, join the cavalry !

The big fat Dutch gals hand around the breadium
hand around the breadium, hand around the breadium
the big fat Dutch gals hand around the breadium
bully boys, hey ! Bully boys, ho !

If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry !
join the cavalry ! Join the cavalry !
if you want to catch the Devil, if you want to have fun
if you want to smell Hell, join the cavalry !

Jump on the Wagon Created in 1861. Lively political song celebrating the secession of most Dixie States, and inviting the few other Dixie States to "Jump on the Secession Wagon".

Katty Wells Created in 1865, anonymous.

Keemo Kimo

Keep your Powder Dry Lyrics and music by F. C. Mayer in 1861.

Kingdom coming

Listen to the Mocking Bird Lyrics and music by Alice Hawthorne in 1855.

The Lone Sentry

Lud Gals Lyrics and music by Daniel Decatur Emmett in 1843. First interpreted by his black faced Minstrel band, The Virginia Minstrels.

Lynchburg Town Created in 1835. Also known as 'Going Down Town'.

Maryland, My Maryland Lyrics by James Ryder Randall in 1861. Music by Melchior Franck in 1615 for the song 'Lauriger Horatius', adapted by Jennie Cary in 1861. Randall wrote 'Maryland, My Maryland' as a poem, published by the Sunday Delta of New Orleans. Some days later Cary, in Baltimore, adapted the poem to the music that had been composed by Franck almost 250 years earlier.

This martial song is the Official Anthem of the State of Maryland. It was composed on 26th April 1861 for encouraging Dixie patriots to fight against the United States, seven days after the clash of civilians, Baltimore Police and Maryland State Militia against United States soldiers, in Baltimore on 19th April 1861, a fight where there were dead and injured on both sides.

Randall strongly supported the Confederate States, including lyrics that refer to United States President Abraham Lincoln as 'tyrant', 'despot', and 'Vandal', and to the United States as 'Northron scum', as well as referring to the phrase 'Sic semper tyrannis', which was the slogan shouted in 1865 by Marylander John Wilkes Booth when he assassinated Lincoln.

The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland !
his torch is at thy temple door, Maryland !
avenge the patriotic gore
that flecked the streets of Baltimore
and be the battle queen of yore
Maryland ! My Maryland !

Hark to an exiled son's appeal, Maryland !
my mother State ! to thee I kneel, Maryland !
for life and death, for woe and weal
thy peerless chivalry reveal
and gird thy beauteous limbs with steel
Maryland ! My Maryland !

Thou wilt not cower in the dust, Maryland !
thy beaming sword shall never rust, Maryland !
remember Carroll's sacred trust
remember Howard's warlike thrust
and all thy slumberers with the just
Maryland ! My Maryland !

Come ! 'Tis the red dawn of the day, Maryland !
come with thy panoplied array, Maryland !
with Ringgold's spirit for the fray
with Watson's blood at Monterrey
with fearless Lowe and dashing May
Maryland ! My Maryland !

Come ! For thy shield is bright and strong, Maryland !
come ! For thy dalliance does thee wrong, Maryland !
come to thine own anointed throng
stalking with Liberty along
and sing thy dauntless slogan song
Maryland ! My Maryland !

Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain, Maryland !
Virginia should not call in vain, Maryland !
she meets her sisters on the plain
'Sic semper !' 'tis the proud refrain
that baffles minions back amain
Maryland ! My Maryland !

I see the blush upon thy cheek, Maryland !
for thou wast ever bravely meek, Maryland !
but lo ! There surges forth a shriek
from hill to hill, from creek to creek
Potomac calls to Chesapeake
Maryland ! My Maryland !

Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll, Maryland !
thou wilt not crook to his control, Maryland !
better the fire upon thee roll
better the blade, the shot, the bowl
than crucifixion of the soul
Maryland ! My Maryland !

I hear the distant thunder-hum, Maryland !
the Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum, Maryland !
she is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb
huzza ! She spurns the Northron scum !
she breathes ! She burns ! She'll come ! She'll come !
Maryland ! My Maryland !

Nine o'Clock Bell Jig Lyrics and music by James Buckley in 1862.

Oh, Susanna Lyrics and music by Stephen Foster and Edwin Pearce Christy (leader of the Christy Minstrels, a black faced Minstrel band) in 1848. In 1849 gold was discovered in Upper California, and thousands of adventurers rushed to try their luck at gold mining. 'Oh, Susanna', created the previous year, became the song of those courageous men, known as 'the Forty Niners of the Gold Rush'.

Old Dan Tucker Traditional.

Old Joe Clark Appalachian traditional song created about 1840, honouring Joe Clark, a United States soldier who fought against the British in the Second British-United States War (1812-1815). When the war ended by the Treaty of Ghent (1815), Joe Clark received some land in reward for his military services, and he settled as a farmer on the Westron slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

There is an instrumental interpretation of the song by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, in the section 'Records of Old Time Country Music'.

My Old Kentucky Home

Old King Crow Created in 1840. 'Old King Crow' is one of the oldest black faced Minstrel songs that have survived complete.

Old Zip Coon Lyrics and music by Robert Farrell in 1834. 'Old Zip Coon' is a comical character of black faced Minstrel bands, a character known as 'broadway swell', who dresses on stage with ultramodish clothes, tightly fitting pantaloons, a blue swallowtail coat, lacy jabot, silk hat, baubles dangling from his waistband, and a walking cane.

Our First President's Quickstep Lyrics and music by P. Rivinac in February 1861, published in Augusta, Georgia, shortly later. The song celebrates Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, whom the Provisional Confederate Congress in Montgomery, Alabama, elected on 9th February 1861 as Provisional President of the Confederate States of America. The ceremony of official inauguration happened also in Montgomery, on 18th February 1861. In February 1862 the Provisional Congress and the Provisional Government of the Confederate States became formally instaured, with Mister Davis continuing as President. The Confederate President has a mandate of six years.

The Palmetto State Song Quickstep Lyrics and music by George O. Robinson in late 1860. This song was the first published Confederate sheet music, and became the first of several major Confederate anthems. Robinson dedicated the song to the signers of South Carolina's act of secession, on 20th December 1860. The lyrics of the song accuse the United States of attempting to impose their will upon the Dixie Nation. This is not the Official State Song of South Carolina, known as 'The Palmetto State'. South Carolina has two Official State Songs: 'Carolina' and 'South Carolina on My Mind'.

Polly Wolly Doodle

Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel Lyrics and music by John Reuben Thompson in 1863. The song is a Confederate version, with different lyrics, inspired on the song 'Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel', this one created by Daniel Decatur Emmett in 1853. The Confederate version 'Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel' speaks about the enormous losses suffered by the Federal forces that tried to capture Richmond, Virginia, Capital City of the Confederate States.

After the first stanza, each stanza mentions a separate battle or military campaign. The last stanza refers to the conviction of niggers that the Confederate Forces 'fight like the devil':
The First Battle of Manassas (Confederate Generals Stonewall Jackson, Beauregard and Johnston against Federal General McDowell).
The Valley Campaign (where the Federals lost their entire supply trains).
The Battle of Drewry's Bluff (where Federal boats participated, to no avail).
The Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Cedar Mountain (Confederate General Longstreet against Federal General McClellan).
The Second Battle of Manassas (Confederate General Stonewall Jackson against Federal General Pope).
The Battle of Fredericksburg (Federal General Burnside tried an attack through the Rappahannock, which ended in disaster).

Would you like to hear my song? I'm afraid it's rather long
of the famous 'On to Richmond' double trouble
of the half-a-dozen trips and half-a-dozen slips
and the very latest bursting of the bubble
'tis pretty hard to sing and like a round, round ring
'tis a dreadful knotty puzzle to unravel
though all the papers swore, when we touched Virginia's shore
that Richmond was a hard road to travel

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
Richmond is a hard road to travel
then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe

First, McDowell, bold and gay, set forth the shortest way
by Manassas in the pleasant summer weather
but unfortunately ran on a Stonewall, foolish man
and had a 'rocky journey' altogether
and he found it rather hard to ride over Beauregard
and Johnston proved a deuce of a bother
and 'twas clear beyond a doubt that he didn't like the route
and a second time would have to try another

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
for Manassas is a hard road to travel
Manassas gave us fits, and Bull Run made us grieve
for Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe !

Next came the Wooly-Horse, with an overwhelming force
to march down to Richmond by the Valley
but he couldn't find the road, and his "onward movement" showed
his campaigning was a mere shilly-shally
then Commissary Banks, with his motley foreign ranks
kicking up a great noise, fuss, and flurry
lost the whole of his supplies, and with tears in his eyes
from the Stonewall ran away in a hurry

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
for the Valley is a hard road to travel
the Valley wouldn't do and we all had to leave
for Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe !

Then the great Galena came, with her portholes all aflame
and the Monitor, that famous naval wonder
but the guns at Drewry's Bluff gave them speedily enough
the loudest sort of regular Rebel thunder
the Galena was astonished and the Monitor admonished
our patent shot and shell were mocked at
while the dreadful Naugatuck, by the hardest kind of luck
was knocked into an ugly cocked hat

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
for James River is a hard road to travel
the gun-boats gave it up in terror and despair
for Richmond is a hard road to travel, I declare !

Then McClellan followed soon, both with spade and balloon
to try the Peninsular approaches
but one and all agreed that his best rate of speed
was no faster than the slowest of 'slow coaches'
instead of easy ground, at Williamsburg, he found
a Longstreet indeed, and nothing shorter
and it put him in the dumps, that spades wasn't trumps
and the Hills he couldn't level as ordered

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
for Longstreet is a hard road to travel
lay down the shovel, and throw away the spade
for Richmond is a hard road to travel, I'm afraid !

Then said Lincoln unto Pope
'You can make the trip, I hope
I will save the Universal Yankee nation
to make sure of no defeat, I'll leave no lines of retreat
and issue a famous proclamation'
but that same dreaded Jackson, this fellow laid his whacks
and made him, by compulsion, a seceder
and Pope took rapid flight from Manassas' second fight
'twas his very last appearance as a leader

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
for Stonewall is a hard road to travel
Pope did his very best, but was evidently sold
for Richmond is a hard road to travel, I am told !

Last of all the brave Burnside, with his pontoon bridges, tried
a road no one had thought of before him
with two hundred thousand men for the Rebel slaughter pen
and the blessed Union flag waving over him
but he met a fire like hell, of canister and shell
that mowed his men down with great slaughter
'twas a shocking sight to view, that second Waterloo
and the river ran with more blood than water

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
Rappahannock is a hard road to travel
Burnside got in a trap, which caused him for to grieve
for Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe !

We are very much perplexed to know who is the next
to command the new Richmond expedition
for the Capital must blaze, and that in ninety days
and Jeff and his men be sent to perdition
we'll take the cursed town, and then we'll burn it down
and plunder and hang up each cursed Rebel
yet the contraband was right when he told us they would fight
'Oh, yes, massa, they fight like the devil !'

Then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
for Richmond is a hard road to travel
then pull off your coat and roll up your sleeve
For Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe !

Riding a Raid Created in 1862, anonymous lyrics. Based on the music of 'The Bonnie Dundee', Scotch traditional. 'Riding a Raid' honours Confederate Cavalry General J. E. B. Stuart.

Ring, Ring the Banjo Lyrics and music by Stephen Foster in 1851.

Rock of Ages

Rock the Cradle, Julie

Rose of Alabama Created in 1840.

Rosin the Beau Created in 1838.

Shady Grove Traditional fiddle tune, based on a pentatonic scale.

Soldier's Joy

Somebody's Darling Lyrics by Marie Revenal de la Coste, in Savannah, Georgia. Music by Confederate song writer John Hill Hewitt. The authoress of the lyrics composed this song to honour the unknown Confederate soldier, who died anonymous.

The Southron Soldier Boy Lyrics by Confederate Captain G.W. Alexander in 1863. Music inspired on an Irish traditional of Celtic origin entitled 'The Boy with the Auburn Hair'. 'The Southron Soldier Boy' was first interpreted by Miss Sallie Partington at the Richmond New Theatre in 1863.

The Southron Soldier Boy, interpreted by Kathy Mattea
Running time: 151 seconds. Storage size: 3.5 Megabytes. Audio format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Three
confederate-kathy_mattea-the_southron_soldier_boy.mp3

Bob Roebuck is my sweet heart's name
he is out to the wars and gone
he is fighting for his nanny dear
his sword is buckled on

He is fighting for his only true love
his foes he does defy
he is the darling of my heart
my Southron Soldier Boy

And if in battle he were slain
I am sure that I should die
but I'm sure he'll come again
to cheer my weeping eye

But should he fall
in this our Glorious Cause
he still would be my joy
for many a sweet heart mourns the loss
of a Southron Soldier Boy

I hope for the best and so do all
whose hopes are in the field
I know that we shall win the day
for Southrons never yield

And when we pray
to those who are away
we'll know a thoughtful joy
and I am mighty glad that my Bobby is
a Southron Soldier Boy

The Southron Wagon

Stonewall Jackson's Way Lyrics by John Williamson Palmer on 16th or 17th September 1862, in the part of Allegany County, Maryland, which was later known as Garrett County. Music from an anonymous tune of Oregon lumbermen, found on the body of a Confederate Sergeant after the First Battle of Winchester (25th May 1862). 'Stonewall Jackson's Way' was finished on the day of the Confederate Victory at the Battle of Sharpsburg, and honours Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson, Commander of the Second Corps of the Army of Northron Virginia.

Come, stack arms, men ! Pile on the rails
stir up the camp-fire bright
no matter if the canteen fail
we'll make a rousing night !
here Shenandoah brawls along
and burly Blue-Ridge echoes strong
to swell our brigade's rousing song
of 'Stonewall Jackson's way'

We see him now, the old slouched hat
cocked over his eye askew
the shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat
so calm, so blunt, so true
the 'Blue-Light Elder' his foe knows well
says he, 'that's Banks, doesn't like shell
Lord save his soul ! we'll give him hell !'
in Stonewall Jackson's way

Silence ! ground arms! kneel all ! caps off !
old 'Blue Lights' going to pray
strangle the fool that dares to scoff !
attention ! it's his way
appealing from his native sod
in forma pauperis to God
aay 'tare Thine arm, stretch forth thy rod
amen !' 'That's Stonewall Jackson's way'

He's in the saddle now, Fall in !
steady the whole brigade
Hill's at the ford, cut off, we'll win
his way out, ball and blade !
what matter if our shoes be worn ?
what matter if our feet be torn ?
quick-step! we're with him before morn !
that's 'Stonewall Jackson's way'

The sun's bright lances, rout the mists
of morning, and by George !
here's Longstreet, struggling in the lists
hemmed in an ugly gorge
Pope and his Yankees, fierce before
'Bay'nets and grape !' hear Stonewall roar
'Charge, Stuart ! Pay off Ashby's score !'
in 'Stonewall Jackson's way'

Ah ! Maiden, wait and watch and yearn
for news of Jackson's band !
ah ! Widow, read, with eyes that burn
that ring upon thy hand
ah ! Wife, sew on, pray on, hope on
thy life shall not be all forlorn
the foe had better never been born
that gets in 'Stonewall's way'

Swanee River Created in 1851. Also known as 'Old Folks at Home'.

The Vacant Chair Also known as 'We shall meet, but we shall miss him'.

Wait for the Wagon Created in 1851.

When you and I were Young, Maggie Lyrics by George W. Johnson. Music by J. A. Butterfield in 1866.

The Yellow Rose of Texas According to legend the song originated in Texas in 1848, at the end of the War between Mexico and the United States (1846-1848), but the oldest known version appears in Christy's Plantation Melodies, issue number two, published by Edwin Pearce Christy (leader of the Christy Minstrels, a black faced Minstrel band) in Philadelphia in 1853.

The original song, as published by Christy, uses some slang expressions and mentions 'Dearest Mae' and 'Rosa Lee', which were the titles of two other songs of the Christy Minstrels. Some years later the lyrics were changed to a more correct English, the line 'nobody only me' to 'nobody known to me', the line 'she is the sweetest rose of colour' to 'she is the sweetest little rosebud' or 'she is the sweetest little flower', the line 'a fellow ever knew' to 'that Texas ever knew', the line 'You may talk about Your Dearest Mae' to 'You may talk about Your Clementine', the line 'beats the belles of Tennessee' to 'is the only girl for me', the line 'I'll pick the banjo gaily' to 'I'll play my banjo gaily', the line 'she'll be mine for ever more' to 'will be mine for ever more', and other modifications. This record has the original lyrics:

The Yellow Rose of Texas, interpreted by Bill Hayes accompanied by the Army Band and Chorus
Recorded in 1963
Running time: 116 seconds. Storage size: 4.2 Megabytes. Video format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Four
confederate_army_band-bill_hayes-the_yellow_rose_of_texas-1963.mp4

This other record has modified lyrics (indicated between parentheses below), but it is a more martial interpretation:

The Yellow Rose of Texas, interpreted by the Military Band of the Confederate Army
Running time: 181 seconds. Storage size: 3.3 Megabytes. Video format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Four
confederate_army_band-the_yellow_rose_of_texas.mp4

There's a yellow rose in Texas
I'm going there to see
no other fellow knows her
nobody only me (nobody known to me)

She cried so when I left her
it's like she broke my heart
and if we ever meet again
we'd never walk apart

She is the sweetest rose of colour (She is the sweetest little rosebud)
a fellow ever knew (that Texas ever knew)
her eyes are bright as diamonds
they sparkle like the dew

You may talk about Your Dearest Mae (You may talk about Your Clementine)
and sing of Rosa Lee
but the Yellow Rose of Texas
beats the belles of Tennessee (is the only girl for me)

When the Rio Grande is flowing
the stars are shining bright
she walked along the river
on a quiet Summer night

She said if You remember
we parted long ago
I promised to come back again
and not to leave her so

She is the sweetest rose of colour (She is the sweetest little rosebud)
a fellow ever knew (that Texas ever knew)
her eyes are bright as diamonds
they sparkle like the dew

You may talk about Your Dearest Mae (You may talk about Your Clementine)
and sing of Rosa Lee
but the Yellow Rose of Texas
beats the belles of Tennessee (is the only girl for me)

Oh, I'm going back to find her
my heart is full of woe
we'll sing the songs together
we sang so long ago

I'll pick the banjo gaily (I'll play my banjo gaily)
and sing the songs of yore
the Yellow Rose of Texas
she'll be mine for ever more (will be mine for ever more)

She is the sweetest rose of colour (She is the sweetest little rosebud)
a fellow ever knew (that Texas ever knew)
her eyes are bright as diamonds
they sparkle like the dew

You may talk about Your Dearest Mae (You may talk about Your Clementine)
and sing of Rosa Lee
but the Yellow Rose of Texas
beats the belles of Tennessee (is the only girl for me)

In the Confederate States the song was a common march of the Texas Brigade, as part of the Army of Tennessee, which added the following lines. In them, there is reference to Confederate Generals Joseph Johnston, Pierre G. T. Beauregard, Robert E. Lee and John Bell Hood:

Now I'm going southward
my heart is full of woe
I'm going back to Georgia
to find my Uncle Joe

You may talk about your Beauregard
and sing of Bobby Lee
but the gallant Hood of Texas
he played hell in Tennessee

Tunes well known in Dixie, but probably not originated in Dixie

Admiral Benbow Created about 1702. It honours British Admiral John Benbow, who commanded the British Fleet against the French Fleet in the Caribbean, during the War of Spanish Succession (1700-1715).

All Quiet along the Potomac Tonight Lyrics by Ethel Lynn Eliot Beers in Goshen, New York, published in Harper's Weekly on 30th November 1861 as 'The Picket Guard'. Music by Confederate song writer John Hill Hewitt. It portrays the watchful tension that followed the First Battle of Manassas, where the Federals were defeated, and they felt terrified that at any moment the Confederates would cross the River Potomac into Maryland and capture Washington City, the Federal capital. Writer Walt Whitman, who was a Federal soldier in the Washington garrison, some time later wrote about the worries of every Federal in Washington (politicians, officers, soldiers and pro-Federal civilians), fearful of the imminent Confederate attack.

Army Bean

A-roving Traditional.

Auld Lang Syne Created in 1793. Bonnie Prince Charles Stuart, who lived exiled in France and disputed the British Crown against the House of Orange, landed in Scotland by surprise with a handful of loyals. Immediately the Prince received thousands of volunteers, forming a powerful Stuart Army that controlled most of Scotland and part of North England. The Orange Army presented battle, and the Prince was defeated at Culloden in 1746. For many years his loyals uttered 'Auld Lang Syne' (English Scots, meaning 'Old Long Since') as a greeting to one another.

Banks of the Ohio Traditional.

Billy Broke Locks

Blood Red Roses

Boney was a Warrior Created in 1821. A British song honouring their nemesis, French General and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who after twenty years of victories lost the Battle of Waterloo (La Belle Alliance) in June 1815, was exiled to the island of Saint Helena in mid Atlantic, and died there in 1821.

Brennan on the Moor

Cockles and Mussels

Coming to us Dead

Connamara Cradle Song

Cumberland Crew

Devilish Mary Traditional.

A Drop of Nelson's Blood Created in 1805, based on the music of 'Roll the Old Chariot', traditional. The song 'A Drop of Nelson's Blood' has a curious story. In 1805 Spain was allied to Napoleonic France. An important naval battle took place in Trafalgar, near the city of Cádiz (the ancient Phoenician Gadir and Roman Gades, in South Spain), at the Atlantic approaches to the Strait of Gibraltar (the ancient Columns of Herakles and Arab Gebr-Al-Tarik). The British Fleet was commanded by British Admiral Horatio Nelson, the French-Spanish Fleet by French Admiral Villeneuve, with Spanish Admirals Churruca and Gravina as seconds in command.

The battle was heroically fought on both sides, but the British won. Admiral Nelson, however, died near the end of the fight. For conserving his body until funeral in England, the British officers put him inside a barrel filled with liquour. Legend has it that some British sailors secretly drank liquour from the barrel that contained the body of Admiral Nelson, and an anonymous author invented the macabre lyrics, giving the humourous title of 'A Drop of Nelson's Blood'. The music of 'Roll the Old Chariot' was well known to the British, so the disrespectful lyrics immediately caught the fancy of the British sailors.

Drunken Sailor

Garry Owen

Gentle Annie

'The Girl I Left Behind Me', oil painting by Eastman Johnson, circa 1870
In the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington

The Girl I Left Behind Me Anonymous English song of the XVII century, or earlier. According to Theodore Ralph some variations of the song were known in North America about 1650 as 'Brighton Camp', but there is no evidence for this, and the only known tune of 'Brighton Camp' (a copy of 1796 at the Bodleian Library, Oxford) differed from the tune of 'The Girl I Left Behind Me'.

'The Girl I Left Behind Me' began to be played by naval British forces in 1758, when Admirals Hawke and Rodney were observing the enemy French fleet during the Seven Years War (1756-1763). The first lyrics of the song appeared in the serial song collection 'The Charms of Melody' (issue number 72, printed in Dublin from 1791), and in Exshaw's Magazine (Dublin, September 1794). The earliest known version of the melody was in 'Hime's Pocket Book for the German Flute or Violin' (volume 3, page 67, printed in Dublin about 1810) under the title 'The Girl I Left Behind Me' (National Library of Ireland, Dublin).

'The Girl I Left Behind Me' has many variations and verses, for example 'Blyth Camps, or The Girl I Left Behind Me' (Newcastle 1812), 'Brighton Camp, or The Girl I Left Behind Me' (Dublin 1815, from which the 'Brighton' title probably came), and others. A number of songs in Irish Gaelic or in English were set to this tune in Ireland in the XIX century, such as 'An Spailpín Fánach' (often translated into English as 'The Rambling Labourer'), 'The Rare Old Mountain Dew' (published in New York in 1882), and others. In England the tune is often known as 'Brighton Camp' and is common in Morris dancing. Below an early phonograph recording of 'The Girl I Left Behind Me', maybe the oldest recording of the song.

The Girl I Left Behind Me, interpreted by Vernon Dalhart
Running time: 165 seconds. Storage size: 1.9 Megabytes. Audio format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Three
confederate-vernon_dalhart-the_girl_i_left_behind_me.mp3

The hours sad I left a maid
a lingering farewell taking
whose sighs and tears my steps delayed
I thought her heart was breaking
in hurried words her name I blest
I breathed the vows that bind me
and to my heart in anguish pressed
the girl I left behind me

Then to the east we bore away
to win a name in story
and there where dawns the sun of day
there dawned our sun of glory
the place is now in almost sight
when in the host assigned me
I shared the glory of that fight
sweet girl I left behind me

Though many a name our banners bore
of former deeds of daring
but they were of the days of yore
in which we had no caring
but now our laurels freshly won
with the old one shall entwine me
singing worthy of our size each son
sweet girl I left behind me

The hope of final victory
within my bosom burning
is mingling with sweet thoughts of thee
and of my fond returning
but should I never return again
thy words I love will bind me
dishonours breath shall never stain
the name I leave behind me

The song entered the United States Army during the Second British-United States War (1812-1815), after United States soldiers heard a British prisoner singing it. It was common as a marching tune in the XIX century with these lyrics:

I'm lonesome since I crossed the hill
and over the moor that's sedgy
such lonely thoughts my heart do fill
since parting with my Betsey
I seek for one as fair and gay
but find none to remind me
how sweet the hours I passed away
with the girl I left behind me

In the Confederate States some humourous lines were added. In them, 'Old Abe' or 'Abe Lincoln' is United States President Abraham Lincoln, a fanatic enemy of the Confederate States:

Old Abe lies sick, Old Abe lies sick
Old Abe lies sick in bed
he's a lying dog, a crying dog
and I wish that he was dead
Jeff Davis is a gentleman
Abe Lincoln is a fool
Jeff Davis rides a big white horse
and Lincoln rides a mule

Hard Tack

Haul on the Bowline

Johnny has Gone for a Soldier

Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye Yankee marching song published in 1867, inspired on an Irish traditional.

Jolly Grog

Jug of Punch

Just before the Battle, Mother Lyrics and music by George F. Root in Chicago, United States, in 1864. It is a pro-Union song humourously called 'The Song of the Coward' (lyrics not given here), but known and humourously sung in the Confederacy and the Union with modified lyrics. In them, 'Mountain dew' or 'Moon shine' is a generic name for any distilled liquour, often prepared at night in clandestinity. 'To skedaddle' means 'to desert', to abandon the Armed Forces secretly, without permission from a commanding officer.

Just before the battle mother
I was drinking mountain dew
when I heard the sound of gunfire
to the rear I quickly flew

Where the stragglers were all gathered
thinking of their home and wives
'twas not the Rebs we feared dear mother
but our own dear precious lives

Farewell, mother, you may never
count my name among the slain
for if I only could skedaddle
dear mother I'll come home again

Kathleen Mavourneen Lyrics by Annie Julia Louise Matilda Jane Marion McCartney Crawford in 1837. Music by Frederick Crouch. 'Mavourneen' is a term of endearment derived from the Irish Gaelic 'mo mhuirnín', meaning 'my beloved'. The song 'Kathleen Mavourneen' was known in the Confederacy and the Union, as well as sung in Ireland, Britain, Italy and other nations in the 1840's and 1850's by the Irish soprano Catherine Hayes (1818–1861). 'Kathleen Mavourneen' is also the title of three silent films (of 1911, 1913, 1919), and of two sound films (of 1930, 1937). The song appears in other films, such as in 'Gettysburg' (inspired on the historical novel 'The Killer Angels', by Michael Shaara).

Kilgaragh Mountain

Leave her, Johnny

A Life on the Vicksburg Bluff

Lorena Lyrics and music by R. H. D. L. Webster and J. P. Webster in 1858.

Men of Harlech

The Mermaid Traditional.

The Minstrel Boy Lyrics by Thomas Moore in 1798. Music of 'The Moreen', traditional Irish melody. Moore composed this patriotic song shortly after the Irish Revolt of 1798, where some of his colleagues from Trinity College were killed. During the War for Confederate Independence this song was typical of Irish soldiers on both sides.

The minstrel boy to the war is gone
in the ranks of death ye may find him
his father's sword he hath girded on
with his wild harp slung behind him
Land of Song, the lays of the warrior bard
though all the world betrays thee
may some day sound for thee
but his harp belongs to the brave and free
and shall never sound in slavery !

One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard
one faithful harp shall praise thee !
the minstrel fell ! But the foeman's chain
could not bring that proud soul under
the harp he loved never spoke again
for he tore its chords asunder
and said 'No chains shall sully thee'
thou soul of love and bravery !
thy songs were made for the pure and free
they shall never sound in slavery !

During the War for Confederate Independence these lines were added by an unknown author:

The minstrel Boy will return we pray
when we hear the news we all will cheer it
the minstrel boy will return one day
torn perhaps in body, not in spirit
then may he play on his harp in peace
in a world such as heaven intended
for all the bitterness of man must cease
and every battle must be ended

Mistress McGrath

Old Maui

Paddy Doyle's Boots

Pop goes the Weasel

Ring the Bell, Watchman

Rising of the Moon

Roddy McCorley

Sail Away, Ladies

Saro Jane

Saturday Night at Sea Created in 1835.

Shiloh's Hill

Shortening Bread Traditional.

Sweet Evalina

Tenting Tonight

There is a Fountain Filled with Blood

There is a Tavern in the Town Traditional.

Tom Dula

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp

When Johnny Comes Marching Home Lyrics and music by Patrick Gilmore (as Louis Lambert) on 26th September 1863, inspired on the song 'Johnny Fill Up the Bowl', this one arranged on 1st July 1863 by J. Durnal on a previous song. That previous song may have been 'John Anderson, My Jo' (to which Robert Burns wrote lyrics to fit a pre-existing tune dating from about 1630 or earlier), and Jonathan Lighter has suggested a connection to the XVII century English ballad 'The Three Ravens'.

'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' is also sung to the tune of 'Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye', and is thought to have been a rewriting of that song. However, 'Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye' was not published until 1867, and it originally had a different melody. 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' became well known in the Confederate States, the United States, and Great Britain. There have been many versions of the song, some with the same music but very different lyrics.

Below there is the original text of 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home'. The following record sings the first three stanzas, eliminating the fourth and repeating the last two lines of the third. It also changes the line 'to welcome home our darling boy' to 'to welcome home my Johnny boy':

When Johnny Comes Marching Home, interpreted by Gloria Lambert accompanied by the Army Band and Chorus
Recorded in 1963
Running time: 90 seconds. Storage size: 3.2 Megabytes. Video format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Four
confederate_army_band-gloria_lambert-when_johnny_comes_marching_home-1963.mp4

When Johnny comes marching home again
hurray, hurray !
we'll give him a hearty welcome then
hurray, hurray !
the men will cheer and the boys will shout
the ladies they will all turn out
and we'll all feel gay
when Johnny comes marching home

The old church bell will peal with joy
hurray, hurray !
to welcome home our darling boy
hurray, hurray !
the village lads and lassies say
with roses they will strew the way
and we'll all feel gay
when Johnny comes marching home

Get ready for the Jubilee
hurray, hurray !
we'll give the hero three times three
hurray, hurray !
oh, the laurel wreath is ready now
to place upon his loyal brow
and we'll all feel gay
when Johnny comes marching home

Let love and friendship on that day
hurray, hurray !
their choicest pleasures then display
hurray, hurray !
and let each one perform some part
to fill with joy the warrior's heart
and we'll all feel gay
when Johnny comes marching home

When This Cruel War Is Over Lyrics by Charles Carroll Sawyer in 1863. Music by Henry Tucker. During the War for Confederate Independence this song was sung by both sides, with slightly different lyrics. It was known by its original title in the Confederate States, but also as 'Weeping, Sad and Lonely' in the United States. Confederate song writer John Hill Hewitt wrote an answer song entitled 'When Upon the Field of Glory'. Other answer songs were 'When This War Is Over, I Will Come Back To Thee', 'I Remember the Hour When Sadly We Parted', 'Yes, Darling, Sadly I Remember', 'When the Lonely Watch I am Keeping', and others, written by different authors.

Wild Rover

Ernest and Hattie Stoneman in 1926 (founders of the Stoneman Family)

Records of Old Time Country Music

In alphabetic order by the first word:
Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys
Gene Autry and the Singing Folks
Jim and Jesse Mc Reynolds and the Virginia Boys
Johnny Horton
Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys
Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
Rose Maddox and Brothers
Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers
The Stoneman Family

Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys

The Monroe Brothers began in the early 1930's, during the Depression Era, and made their first record in 1936. After the death of his brother, Bill Monroe formed the Blue Grass Boys in 1938, and created a unique style known as 'Blue Grass'. In 1939 they joined the Grand Ole Opry of Nashville, Tennessee, with this important Country Music festival going on the airwaves through NBC Radio Network. In 1941 the Grand Ole Opry moved to the Ryman Auditorium, in Nashville, with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys becoming its first stars. In 1945 Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt in the Blue Grass Boys, with Scruggs inventing the five string banjo and introducing the famous 'Scruggs three fingers banjo picking style', which in fact created the music called Blue Grass in the form that it is known today.

In 1946 (the year following Scruggs' incorporation to the Blue Grass Boys) the expression 'Blue Grass Music' was used by the press for the first time, pointing to that distinct variant of Hillbilly Music that the Blue Grass Boys had created, mainly Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs. But the three giants would not last together for long, because in 1948 Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs separated from Bill Monroe and formed the Foggy Mountain Boys. In spite of that serious drawback, Bill Monroe successfully continued his performances with the Blue Grass Boys, earning the name of 'Father of Blue Grass Music'. The name 'Blue Grass' is based on that of the State of Kentucky, the 'Blue Grass State'. Bill Monroe and different components of the Blue Grass Boys continued as one of the very first bands in Country Music. Monroe remained musically active for sixty years, until his death in the late 1990's.

Old Joe Clark Appalachian traditional song created about 1840, honouring Joe Clark, a United States soldier who fought against the British in the Second British-United States War (1812-1815). When the war ended by the Treaty of Ghent (1815), Joe Clark received some land in reward for his military services, and he settled as a farmer on the Westron slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Old Joe Clark (instrumental version, without lyrics), interpreted by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys
Running time: 144 seconds. Storage size: 1.7 Megabytes. Audio format: Motion Picture Expert Group, Layer Three
blue_grass-bill_monroe-old_joe_clark.mp3

Blue Moon Of Kentucky Interpreted by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.

Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining
shine on the one that's gone and proved untrue
blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining
shine on the one that's gone and left me blue

  It was on a moonlight night the stars were shining bright
  when they whispered from on high your love has said good-bye
  blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining
  shine on the one that's gone and said good-bye

I Saw The Light Interpreted by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. In the Blue Grass - White Godspel style, this is one of the best examples of the superior sound of Bill Monroe, the Father of Blue Grass Music.

I wandered so aimless my heart filled with sin
I wouldn't let my dear Saviour in
then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
praise the Lord I saw the light

  I saw the light, I saw the light
  no more darkness no more night
  now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight
  praise the Lord I saw the light