Dixie

Dixie, or DIXIE'S LAND, a term which came, by a popular error, to be identified with the South and Southern institutions during the civil war. It is derived from a Northern negro refrain, which was sung in New York about the beginning of the 19th century, and which expressed the supposed regrets of the slaves of a man Dixie, who had shipped his slaves to the South as the abolition sentiment grew stronger. This rude chant afterwards was developed into the melody that for a time became the rival of Yankee Doodle.