Page Four THE PILOT, Southern Pines and Aberdeen, North Carolina Friday, Augxist 3, 1934. ‘Dixie’, the ^Marseillaise of South’ Owes Origin Solely to the North OriRinal Manuscript Exhibited to Mark Anniversaries of Sonft’s New York Debut and Death of Its Author, Daniel D. Emmett, of Ohio Hundreds of New Yorkers last, before slavery was abolished by the week view the original manuscript of | Empire State in 1822, Dixie, seeing “Dixie,” the “Marseillaise of the ; the trend of the times, sold his hu- South,*’ composed and first sung in j man chattels to Southern plantation this city by an Ohioan of Irish de scent. says an article in the New York Herald-Tribune. The script was a feature of an exhibition of relics of the Civil War-mostly literary. The occasion for showing it was two anniversaries—the first public sing ing of the ballad on the "Deep South" June 21, 1861, and the death, June 28, 1904, of the author, Daniel Deca tur Emmett. "Dixie” may well be called “the Paean of Paradox.’ Like many other war songs such as “Tipperary.” it was never intended as a military air, although its creator had been a sol dier and came of a family of sol diers. There is no suggestion of the beak ers of the warm South in Mount Ver non, Ohio, where Eiiunett was born. His ancestors had come from Ireland to settle in Virginia. His grandfath- er served in the ranks in the War of the Revolution. His father, who was in the War of 1812, emigrated to Ohio. The boy who was ushered into this w’orld in 1815 had his middle name from Commodore Decatur, of the American Navy, of which the father was an admirer. The elder Em mett worked a small farm and was also a village blacksmith . Young Daniel attended the local schools in a desultory fashion. His real education was obtained in coun try newspaper offices as a “devil.” He learned to set type, wrote a lit tle local news; became a sign letterer and did some proofreading. All this training can be seen in the manuscript of “Dixie” engrossed by him and punctuated with great care. His mother was a good musician and knew harmony and thoroughness. She taught her son the technique of musical composition. His first origi nal song, still sung, was "Old Dan Tucker,” composed when he was about fifteen years old. The youth learned to play on the violin and several oth er instruments—the piano, trumpet, flute and fife. It was as a fifer that he joined the regular United States Army. For a few months he was sta tioned at Newport, Ky., and later at Jefferson barracks, St. Louis. He was discharged from the army because of “minority,” as seems to have imag ined himself to have been older than he really was in order to enlist. He learned more about music in | road,” a system whereby runaway the military posts. After leaving the I si', ves were aided to escape from the owners. He had treated them well and it is said they regarded his. farm as an earthly paradise. The erudite work w'ritten by an iCnglish author, Brewer’s “Phrase and Bable,” sets forth that this etymology is the more likely. "For Negroes would scarcely have sung such a song,” it says, “if they were already in Dixie.” However, the Negroes of the South did sing it, anyway, at least for many years. It seems more like a song expressing the yearning of some one far from the cotton fields, as the re frain “W’ay Down South in Dixie” indicates. Still another explanation is that Dixie is from the French "dix,” printed on ten-franc notes in New Orleans when the Louisiana territory was still held by France prior to its sale to this country by Napoleon I. Emmett had traveled in the South with circuses, however, and evidently had learned the name applied to that region. The original title of the song, in fact, was “Dixie’s Land.” The song was an instantaneous “hit.” The tune was catchy and was soon being whistled on the sidewalks of New' York. It was published in 1860 by a well known music publish ing house of this city, and later w'as pirated by Southern printers in a garbled form. Appeared Later in South As a ballad of the South it did not find favor until June, 1861. Fort Sum ter had been fir<--d upon in April and the South was seething. An entertain ment was given in New Orlans for the purpose of stimulating Southern spirit and a committee sought a march song which would be appro priate. It finally agreed upon "Dixie,” which took the audience by storm. W'hy this Negro dialect composition of Northern origin should have had such acception is something which has never been analyzed. None was more surprised than Emmett him self when he realized that his song had become the battle hymn of the rebel states. Upbraided as Disloyal Emmett found himself in an anom. alous position. His father was an ar. dent abolitionist and one of the or ganizers of the “underground rail- How Time Flies! V.. ’ COUIfrOY CLUe, 50JTHE.RN PlliE.S. w.c. • j Two Scenes from Other Davs in Southern Pines The Week in Southern Pines army, he joined a circus as a mem ber of the band. He traveled with four or five small circuses in the “forties” and was for several years with the show of Dan Rice, a noted clown. Negro .Minstrelsy Pioneer Soutii into Ohio and other Northern states. Hundreds of persons wrote to “Dixies” author, upbraiding him for disloyalty to the Union cause. He had a hard time making a living until long after the Civil War was over. In the 70's, however, he established a music hall in Chicago and accumu- From the Big Top he was grad- j^ted some money. Eventually he —ited into vaudeville, or variety j ^Tg^it back to Mount Vernon, Ohio, as it was then called, and drifted to | bought a small farm near his New \ ork City. It is said that Em- j ^irthi lace. There he rai.'^ed vegeta- mett was the originator of Negrol^ies and chickens, which he .sold in minstrelsy, a type of entertainment j town given entirely by white performers in burnt cork make-up in its early stages. This statement has been dis puted, but an authority on the sub ject, Charles B. Galbreath, an anti quarian of note, who made wiue re searches, declares it to be true. Dan Bryant, owner of the minstrel show in which Emmett was appear ing in the spring of 1859, asked Em mett to produce a new song and chor us for what was known as a “walk around.” A "walk around” was a parade of the company about the A1 G. Field, a minstrel manager, rediscovered Emmett in the ’90’s, af ter losing touch with him for many years. Field had been a protege of the veteran showman and was gi'ate- ful to him. He induced him to go back to the stage as a member of his company and gave him a share of the receipts. In the South the aged songfwriter, received ovations. Later the Actors’ Fund of this city gave an allowance to Emmett which made him comfortable in his declining years. A tablet was placed on his stage, strutting and posing cake-walk I ^y his friends and a movement fashion while playing instruments and singing. which to complete his task and he whic hto complete his task and he found it hard to get down to it. His | XEW P.\Y SCHEIDL'LE FOK was started by the Daughters of the Confederacy to erect a monument over his Mount Vernon grave. wife told him that he would be able to compose if he were not disturbed, so she obligingly went shopping and left him in full possession of their one room in the boarding house all day. The house is said to have been the same one in Catherine Street which the Bryants had lived in for years off and on while in New York. Npiw York “Dixie” Mentioned The day was cold and murky. The legend is that Emmett, looking out of the window, sighed and exclaimed, “I wish I were in Dixie." Where the name Dixie came from always has been in doubt. The generally accepted origin is that it was derived from that of one of the English surveyors who ran the famous Mason & Dixon’s Line. Another version of the origin of the term locates "Dixie” in New York City. This was given some fifty years ago by a writer in "The Char leston (S. C.) Courier." He stated that in upper Manhattan there was a farmer or planter named Dixie or ROAD RELIEF »H»»»»»wt»H»immm»«t««»iH»mitnn>iniu