Dixie
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- For alternate meanings and references see Dixie (disambiguation).
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Dixie is a nickname for the Southern region of the United States. Its origin is uncertain.
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Origin of Dixie
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins of the nickname remain obscure. According to A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles (1951), by Mitford M. Mathews, three theories most commonly attempt to explain the term:
- The word preserves the name of a kind slaveowner on Manhattan Island, a Mr. Dixy. His rule was so kindly that "Dixy's Land" became famed far and wide as an Elysium abounding in material comforts.
- Ten-dollar notes issued by the Citizens Bank of Louisiana before the Civil War bore the French dix, ten, on the reverse side and were consequently known as "dixes" or "dixies". Hence, Louisiana and eventually the South in general came to be known as the land of "dixies" or "dixies land".
- "Dixie" derives somehow from Jeremiah Dixon of the Mason-Dixon line defining the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania (the northern boundary of Dixie).
The Mason-Dixon theory is the most popularly known, but few lexicographers give it much weight.
"Dixie's Land"
An Ohio minstrel show composer, Daniel Decatur Emmett, wrote the song called "Dixie's Land", first published by Phillip Werlein in New Orleans in 1859. The tune popularly became known simply as "Dixie". Many people identify the lyrics of the song with the iconography and ideology of the Old South. Some have considered it an unofficial "national anthem" of the South. It is often regarded as the Southern counterpart to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". However joyful a song it may be, many African-Americans consider it offensive and the act of singing it to be sympathetic to the concept of slavery in the United States, particularly in the Old South.
The chorus and first verse are still well-known in much of the U.S. South. One very seldom hears the additional verses.
Lyrics
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- I wish I was in the land of cotton,
- Old times there are not forgotten;
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- In Dixie's Land where I was born in,
- Early on one frosty morning,
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- Then I wish I was in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!
- In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- Old Missus married "Will the Weaver";
- William was a gay deceiver!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- But when he put his arm around her,
- Smiled as fierce as a forty-pounder!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- Then I wish I was in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!
- In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
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- His face was sharp as a butcher's cleaver;
- But that did not seem to grieve her!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- Old Missus acted the foolish part
- And died for a man that broke her heart!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- Then I wish I was in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!
- In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- Now here's a health to the next old missus
- And all the gals that want to kiss us!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- But if you want to drive away sorrow,
- Come and hear this song tomorrow!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- Then I wish I was in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!
- In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- There's buckwheat cakes and Injin batter,
- Makes you fat or a little fatter!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- Then hoe it down and scratch your gravel,
- To Dixie's Land I'm bound to travel!
- Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!
- Then I wish I was in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!
- In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!
- Away! Away! Away down South in Dixie!