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〃We looked around at this； and saw that we were not one hundred feet away
from the angle of the works； which were filled with Rebels waiting for
our fellows to get to where they could have a good flank fire upon them。
There was nothing to do but to throw down our guns and surrender； and we
had hardly gone inside of the works； until the Johnnies opened on our
brigade and drove it back。 This ended the battle at Spottsylvania Court
House。〃
Second Boy （irrelevantly。） 〃Some day the underpinning will fly out from
under the South； and let it sink right into the middle kittle o' hell。〃
First Boy （savagely。） 〃I only wish the whole Southern Confederacy was
hanging over hell by a single string； and I had a knife。〃
CHAPTER XLIV。
REBEL MUSICSINGULAR LACK OF THE CREATIVE POWER AMONG THE SOUTHERNERS
CONTRAST WITH SIMILAR PEOPLE ELSEWHERETHEIR FAVORITE MUSIC； AND WHERE
IT WAS BORROWED FROMA FIFER WITH ONE TUNE。
I have before mentioned as among the things that grew upon one with
increasing acquaintance with the Rebels on their native heath； was
astonishment at their lack of mechanical ski1l and at their inability to
grapple with numbers and the simpler processes of arithmetic。 Another
characteristic of the same nature was their wonderful lack of musical
ability； or of any kind of tuneful creativeness。
Elsewhere； all over the world； people living under similar conditions to
the Southerners are exceedingly musical； and we owe the great majority of
the sweetest compositions which delight the ear and subdue the senses to
unlettered song…makers of the Swiss mountains； the Tyrolese valleys； the
Bavarian Highlands； and the minstrels of Scotland； Ireland and Wales。
The music of English…speaking people is very largely made up of these
contributions from the folk…songs of dwellers in the wilder and more
mountainous parts of the British Isles。 One rarely goes far out of the
way in attributing to this source any air that he may hear that
captivates him with its seductive opulence of harmony。 Exquisite
melodies； limpid and unstrained as the carol of a bird in Spring…time；
and as plaintive as the cooing of a turtle…dove seems as natural products
of the Scottish Highlands as the gorse which blazons on their hillsides
in August。 Debarred from expressing their aspirations as people of
broader culture doin painting； in sculpture； in poetry and prose； these
mountaineers make song the flexible and ready instrument for the
communication of every emotion that sweeps across their souls。
Love； hatred； grief； revenge； anger； and especially war seems to tune
their minds to harmony； and awake the voice of song in them hearts。 The
battles which the Scotch and Irish fought to replace the luckless Stuarts
upon the British thronethe bloody rebellions of 1715 and 1745； left a
rich legacy of sweet song； the outpouring of loving； passionate loyalty
to a wretched cause； songs which are today esteemed and sung wherever the
English language is spoken； by people who have long since forgotten what
burning feelings gave birth to their favorite melodies。
For a century the bones of both the Pretenders have moldered in alien
soil； the names of James Edward； and Charles Edward； which were once
trumpet blasts to rouse armed men； mean as little to the multitude of
today as those of the Saxon Ethelbert； and Danish Hardicanute； yet the
world goes on singingand will probably as long as the English language
is spoken〃Wha'll be King but Charlie？〃 〃When Jamie Come Hame；〃 〃Over
the Water to Charlie；〃 〃Charlie is my Darling；〃 〃The Bonny Blue Bonnets
are Over the Border；〃 〃Saddle Your Steeds and Awa；〃 and a myriad others
whose infinite tenderness and melody no modern composer can equal。
Yet these same Scotch and Irish； the same Jacobite English； transplanted
on account of their chronic rebelliousness to the mountains of Virginia；
the Carolinas； and Georgia； seem to have lost their tunefulness； as some
fine singing birds do when carried from their native shores。
The descendants of those who drew swords for James and Charles at Preston
Pans and Culloden dwell to…day in the dales and valleys of the
Alleganies； as their fathers did in the dales and valleys of the
Grampians； but their voices are mute。
As a rule the Southerners are fond of music。 They are fond of singing
and listening to old…fashioned ballads； most of which have never been
printed； but handed down from one generation to the other； like the
'Volklieder' of Germany。 They sing these with the wild； fervid
impressiveness characteristic of the ballad singing of unlettered people。
Very many play tolerably on the violin and banjo； and occasionally one is
found whose instrumentation may be called good。 But above this hight
they never soar。 The only musician produced by the South of whom the
rest of the country has ever heard； is Blind Tom； the negro idiot。 No
composer； no song writer of any kind has appeared within the borders of
Dixie。
It was a disappointment to me that even the stress of the war； the
passion and fierceness with which the Rebels felt and fought； could not
stimulate any adherent of the Stars and Bars into the production of a
single lyric worthy in the remotest degree of the magnitude of the
struggle； and the depth of the popular feeling。 Where two million
Scotch； fighting to restore the fallen fortunes of the worse than
worthless Stuarts； filled the world with immortal music； eleven million
of Southerners； fighting for what they claimed to be individual freedom
and national life； did not produce any original verse； or a bar of music
that the world could recognize as such。 This is the fact； and an
undeniable one。 Its explanation I must leave to abler analysts
than I am。
Searching for peculiar causes we find but two that make the South differ
from the ancestral home of these people。 These two were Climate and
Slavery。 Climatic effects will not account for the phenomenon； because
we see that the peasantry of the mountains of Spain and the South of
France as ignorant as these people； and dwellers in a still more
enervating atmosphere…are very fertile in musical composition； and their
songs are to the Romanic languages what the Scotch and Irish ballads are
to the English。
Then it must be ascribed to the incubus of Slavery upon the intellect；
which has repressed this as it has all other healthy growths in the
South。 Slavery seems to benumb all the faculties except the passions。
The fact that the mountaineers had but few or no slaves； does not seem to
be of importance in the case。 They lived under the deadly shadow of the
upas tree； and suffered the consequences of its stunting their
development in all directions； as the ague…smitten inhabitant of the
Roman Campana finds every sense and every muscle clogged by the filtering
in of the insidious miasma。 They did not compose songs and music；
because they did not have the intellectual energy for that work。
The negros displayed all the musical creativeness of that section。
Their wonderful prolificness in wild； rude songs； with strangely
melodious airs that burned themselves into the memory； was one of the
salient characteristi