Missed my stop...

First published by F.D. Benteen in Baltimore in 1840, The Blue Tail Fly was performed by many minstrel shows for the next several decades.  It was one of President Lincoln’s favorites, along with (suprisingly) Dixie’s Land.  It is reported that he specifically asked a band to play this tune while in Gettysburg for the Dedication of the National Cemetery.  

This version is performed by the 2nd South Carolina String Band, who perform at reenactments throughout the east coast.  If you ever get the chance, take the opportunity to see them.

 It is also my lovely wife’s favorite Civil War era song, and immediately transports me back to holding her hand on a sultry summer’s dusk with the smell of wood smoke and the sounds of a Civil War camp.