[Ads-l] Very Small Antedating of "Dixie"

Wed Jul 23 17:56:15 UTC 2025

 I was niggling pedantically that in principle "Dixie's Land" doesn't
require the existence of a synonymous "Dixie."

But the lyrics are the lyrics. They can't have changed that much between
April 1859 and April 1860 without a complete rewrite, of which there is no
evidence whatsoever.

It's noteworthy (but hardly news) that the correct title of the song is
"Dixie's Land," which in the sheet music is also where the singer will take
his stand, and he wishes he was in "Dixie."

The more euphonious "Dixie land" begins to appear in Newspapers.com in
January, 1861.

None of these terms, when meaning the American South, has been antedated.

JL

On Wed, Jul 23, 2025 at 1:09 PM Stephen Goranson <
0000179d4093b2d6-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Though we now tend to think and hear Dixieland, even Emmett in 1872
> (as previously posted; his story varied) claimed northern negroes said "I
> wish I was in Dixie's land."
> Much is iffy, but the possessive, dropped in the song, may be worth notice.
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Stephen Goranson <0000179d4093b2d6-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2025 12:00 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Very Small Antedating of "Dixie"
>
> possessive
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Stephen Goranson <0000179d4093b2d6-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2025 11:27 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Very Small Antedating of "Dixie"
>
> Dixie's Land—note the plural. 1859
> "Dickies' Land" game 1856
> "those who go to Dixey's land must be Dixey's men" game 1855 [cf .
> sim.1844?]
> And, what I think is under-appreciated:
> Dorothea Dix's Land Bill, for an asylum in North Carolina, multiple times,
> 1854 , and belittled in NY in 1861
>
> Stephen Goranson
> NC
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2025 10:43 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Very Small Antedating of "Dixie"
>
> Nice, Fred.
>
> There can't be any doubt that the form "Dixie" appeared in Emmett's song
> from the beginning.
>
> The text, however, seems not to have been published till 1860. Possibly the
> earliest published quote from the song to include the word "Dixie"
> [Newspapers.com]:
>
> 1860 _Daily Times-Picayune_ (N.O.) (Apr. 19) 1: To the tune of "I wish I
> was in Dixie."
>
> This may have been posted earlier.
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jul 23, 2025 at 9:38 AM Shapiro, Fred <
> 00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > Barry Popik and Jonathan Lighter have done magnificent etymological
> > research on the word "Dixie," connecting it to the name of a children's
> > game and to the "Mason-Dixon Line."  Here is a tiny (one-day) antedating
> of
> > the OED's entry for "Dixie" meaning the Southern United States:
> >
> > Dixie (OED 1959 [4 Apr.])
> >
> > 1859 New York Herald 3 Apr. 7/5 (Newspapers.com)
> >
> > BRYANT'S MINSTRELS. ... DIXIE'S LAND, another new Plantation Festival.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
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