Dandy Jim from Caroline

DESCRIPTION: "I've often heard it said of late Dat Souf Carolina was de state, Whar handsome Niggars bound to shine, Like 'Dandy Jim from Caroline.'" Jim is the best-looking black man in the county. He boasts of the successes his looks have brought
AUTHOR: S. S. Steel and J. Richard Myers ? (source: Spaeth, A History of Popular Music in America)
EARLIEST DATE: 1843 (Bodleian broadside Harding B 11(789))
KEYWORDS: Black(s) beauty courting
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, John Q. Anderson, "Carolina Courtship and Marriage in the 1840's," Vol. X, No. 2 (Dec. 1962), p. 3, "(I’ve orfen heard it said ob late)" (1 short text, probably this)
Roud #13924
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(789), "Dandy Jim from Caroline," J. Howe (Hull), 1835-1843; also Harding B 11(1528), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Firth b.25(4)=Harding B 11(3503), W. Allerston (York), 1840s; also Harding B 15(82b), Harding B 11(190), E. M. A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also 2806 c.13(36), Johnson Ballads 2442, unknown, n.d.
SAME TUNE:
California Stage Company (File: RcCaStCo)
NOTES [73 words]: Hey, I don't write them. Yes, this is as racist as it sounds. The tune must have been very good for it to become so popular, even in nineteenth century America.
According to Spaeth: Sigmund Spaeth, A History of Popular Music in America, Random House, 1948, pp. 71-72, this was popularized in large part by Thomas D. Rice, who also gave us "Jump Jim Crow." It is said to have been written for "Cool White" (real name: John Hodges). - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: NCFJX203

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