This being the last live concert by the legendary 2nd South Carolina String Band, performed in Gettysburg, PA November 15th 2024, Remembrance Day Weekend for the benefit of the Lomas Center Museum Gettysburg.

This being the last live concert by the legendary 2nd South Carolina String Band, performed in Gettysburg, PA November 15th 2024, Remembrance Day Weekend for the benefit of the Lomas Center Museum Gettysburg.

Published in 1855 in Briggs' Banjo Instructor, “Circus Jig” and “Jim Along Josie” were popular minstrel banjo tunes of the day. In this episode, the banjo player begins tentatively picking out the tune and is soon joined by his band mates who begin to fill out the melody one-by-one, until all are...

In America of the early 1800s, nonsense songs were frequently written about larger than life characters. This tune, written by Dan Emmett and published in 1843 by Charles Keith Company of Boston, Mass. is a great example. The song was popularized by Emmett’s band, the “Virginia Minstrels,” and is...

The origin of this folk song is lost to history. “The Girl I Left Behind Me” is claimed by both England and Ireland. It is said to date to the mid-1700s or even possibly back to the 1600s. The earliest known publication in print that lists the title and lyrics dates to 1791 in “The Charms of Melo...

This song’s sheet Music was published at Boston, MA by C. H. Keith in 1843. It included an endorsement “As performed by the Virginia Minstrels, words by Dan Emmett.” The sheet music does not mention the melody’s composer. However the melody’s author is mentioned in the preface of “White’s New ...

Private John Dinkins, Co. C 18th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry described the march of Mc Law’s Division – including Kershaw’s South Carolina Brigade, of which the 2nd South Carolina regiment was one – towards the Battle of Sharpsburg/Antietam of 1862. Dinkins recalled, “The men moved along at a ...

Private John Dinkins remembered this song as “Sallie Get Your Hoecake Done” when he and the men of the 18th Mississippi sang and marched to the Battle of Sharpsburg/Antietam. However, in 1840 it was published under its minstrel stage title as “Jenny Get Your Hoecake Done” by Firth & Hall in New Y...

This very successful minstrel song was written by Stephen Foster in 1847 and published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1848. It was performed and popularized by the renowned “Christy Minstrels” and has gone on to be considered one of the most popular American songs ever written. Because of t...

The composer of this popular minstrel song is only identified as “J. K.” The sheet music was first published in 1858 by Firth Pond and Co. of New York. During the War Between the States the song gained widespread popularity with Southern soldiers. It was the favorite marching song of General Jo...

Stephen Foster captured the mood of America in the mid-1850’s with this parlor song. The United States was experiencing a recession and Stephen’s home town of Pittsburg, PA was suffering from record unemployment. Compounding their situation in the summer of 1854, cholera struck killing 400 peop...

This tune has often been called the original Virginia Reel. In this episode, we can see soldiers dancing together in the background, while others watch and clap in time with the music. We had included this scene because we wanted to try and capture the essence of what young Private David Holt of ...

This song, also known as “Way Down Upon the Swanee River” was composed by Stephen Foster in 1851. He was commissioned by E.P. Christy to write a song for his popular band, The Christy Minstrels. Christy also paid Foster for the right to be credited as the song’s composer. Therefore, when the song...

The Confederacy’s unofficial anthem was written by Dan Emmett and was originally titled "I Wish I Was In Dixie’s Land." Emmett composed Dixie in 1859, prior to the War Between the States, as a “walk around” for his band, Bryant’s Minstrels. The song premiered on April 4th 1859, at Mechanic’s Ha...

THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG

The flag itself - a single white 5-point star on a dark blue field - first appeared in 1810 as the banner of the 'Republic of West Florida', but was quickly ushered off history's stage by the Louisiana Purchase after hardly 3 months. Some years after, another version reappea...

First published in Philadelphia in 1838, “Old Rosin the Beau” likely comes to us from the British Isles. The words and melody are ‘traditional’, meaning there is no known lyricist or composer on record. For the longest time, we naturally thought the title referred to the “bow” that is “rosined” t...

“ The Boatman’s Dance” first appeared in print as a fiddle tune in George P. Knauff’s 1839 Virginia’s Reels, Volume IV, under the title “Ohio River.” The song is attributed to Daniel Decatur Emmett, a founder of the first troupe of minstrels, the “Virginia Minstrels.” He was born in Mount Vernon...

The Appalachian folk melody was a favorite of mountain fiddlers and banjo players known as “The Gospel Train (Get on Board)”. “Cindy”, also known as “Get Along Home, Cindy”, using the tune from “The Gospel Train”, first appears as a North Carolina folk song in a book of collected folk tales by An...

“When Johnny Comes Marching Home” was published on September 26, 1863, by Henry Tolman & Co., of Boston, MA. The melody and lyrics were attributed to “Louis Lambert”, a pseudonym for Irish-American military band leader Patrick Gilmore. It is unknown why Gilmore chose not to acknowledge his compos...

“The “Battle Cry of Freedom” was composed by professional song writer George F. Root for a July 1862 Chicago war rally. The rally was in support of President Abraham Lincoln‘s call for an additional 300,000 volunteers to fill the ranks of the shrinking Union Army. The song was published In 1862 b...

This nonsense song ranks with "Oh! Susanna" as one of Foster's best. Not especially popular in its early days, "Camptown Races" earned Foster royalties of only $101.25 in its first seven years (representing a total sales of 5,000 copies at two cents apiece). Debuted by the ubiquitous Christy Mins...

This 1860 Stephen Foster 'plantation melody' was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. The song’s title is derived from the name of a 425 ton side-wheel packet steamer, the “Glendy Burke.” She was owned by the Vicksburg, Mississippi firm of Cobb & Nanlove, and plied the Ohio and Mississipp...

Pvt. John Dinkins, Co.C, 18th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, described the march toward Sharpsburg in September of 1862, of McLaw's Division, which included Co. I, 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Dinkins recalled, "The men moved along at a lively gait. As night came on, we sang all kinds ...