Songs and Ballads of the Southern People 1861-1865   By: Frank Moore (1823-1904)

1861 1865.

COLLECTED AND EDITED

BY FRANK MOORE.

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET. 1886.

COPYRIGHT, 1886, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

All rights reserved.

NOTE TO READERS.

This collection has been made with the view of preserving in permanent form the opinions and sentiments of the Southern people, as embodied in their Songs and Ballads of 1861 1865; which, better than any other medium, exhibit the temper of the times and popular feeling. The historical value of the productions is admitted. Age will not impair it.

The editor has endeavored to give the best of the inspirations. A desire to announce the authorship of the pieces has been gratified in most instances. Where requests have been made not to give names and places and circumstances, by whom, and where they have been written, they have been regarded, the spirit, meaning and intent not being affected, nor in the least abated by such a course. To those who have assisted in collecting, the editor returns his thanks. After this volume reaches those who are interested, should any of them desire to correct mistakes that may have crept into it, he will be glad to make the changes required.

Should any one, into whose hands the volume may fall, know of copies of songs or ballads, or of letters and incidents upon which such are founded songs and ballads, letters or incidents not already collected in book form the editor will be glad to be advised, that means may be taken for their permanent preservation, which he is using every endeavor to secure. A postal card, giving name and residence, addressed to him, in the care of his publishers, D. Appleton and Company, New York City, will receive immediate attention.

The essence of history exists in its songs. Those that are carried in the memory are earliest forgotten. It is a praiseworthy plan that saves all. Will those who "know them by heart," and have "sung them in camp and in battle," help to rescue them from oblivion?

FRANK MOORE.

NEW YORK, January, 1886 .

SONGS OF THE SOUTHERN PEOPLE.

A POEM FOR THE TIMES.

BY JOHN R. THOMPSON.

Who talks of Coercion? Who dares to deny A resolute people their right to be free? Let him blot out forever one star from the sky, Or curb with his fetter one wave of the sea.

Who prates of Coercion? Can love be restored To bosoms where only resentment may dwell; Can peace upon earth be proclaimed by the sword, Or good will among men be established by shell?

Shame! shame that the statesman and trickster, forsooth, Should have for a crisis no other recourse, Beneath the fair day spring of Light and of Truth, Than the old brutum fulmen of Tyranny, Force.

From the holes where Fraud, Falsehood, and Hate slink away; From the crypt in which Error lies buried in chains; This foul apparition stalks forth to the day, And would ravage the land which his presence profanes.

Could you conquer us, Men of the North, could you bring Desolation and death on our homes as a flood; Can you hope the pure lily, Affection, will spring From ashes all reeking and sodden with blood?

Could you brand us as villeins and serfs, know ye not What fierce, sullen hatred lurks under the scar? How loyal to Hapsburg is Venice, I wot; How dearly the Pole loves his Father, the Czar!

But 'twere well to remember this land of the sun Is a nutrix leonum , and suckles a race Strong armed, lion hearted, and banded as one, Who brook not oppression and know not disgrace.

And well may the schemers in office beware The swift retribution that waits upon crime, When the lion, RESISTANCE, shall leap from his lair, With a fury that renders his vengeance sublime.