To Miss Alice Gregory,
Petersburg, Va.
"Dear Land of the South" (1860)
Written and Composed by
Eugene Raymond
[pseud. for John Hill Hewitt, 1801-1890]

Baltimore, MD: HENRY McCAFFREY, 207 Baltimore St.
Washington D.C.: John F. Ellis.
[Engraver:] Cottinghham [sp?]
{Plate no.] 386
[Sources: pages 363-364 of "Songs of Yesterday";
civilwardigital.com]

1. Dear land of the South, where the lofty pines grows,
And sings its wild song to the violet and rose;
I love to recline where the orange trees bloom,
And bless, with a proud heart my own Southern home.
They tell of the health and the wealth of the North,
Of the beauty and plenty its valleys bring forth;
There are hearts of the South as warm as her sun,
Whose pulse is the same and whose feelings are one!

REFRAIN [sung after each VERSE]
Then, ever be blest, dear land of my sires!
The home of the gen'rous, the noble and the true;
The first that enkindfled and fed Freedom's fires,
And upheld our banner of red, white and blue!

2. The bright eyes of beauty illumines thy halls,
Her sighs like soft music, upon the soul falll;
The glow of the clime seems to dwell in her breast,
And woo the worn spirit from sorrorw to rest.
The stalward and brave are all ready to band
For the cause that is just and their own native land;
"The union of States, and the union of hands."
Is blazed on their standard wherever it stands.