The Homespun Dress

CARRIE BELLE SINCLAIR (1839—1883) of Georgia served as a nurse in the Confederate hospitals in Savannah. She was a niece of the inventor Robert Fulton. Much of her verse was set to familiar Confederate music.

Oh, yes, I am a Southern girl,
And glory in the name,
And boast it with far greater pride
Than glittering wealth and fame.
We envy not the Northern girl,
Her robes of beauty rare,
Though diamonds grace her snowy neck,
And pearls bedeck her hair.


CHORUS--
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For the sunny South so dear;
Three cheers for the homespun dress
The Southern ladies wear!

​
The homespun dress is plain, I know,
My hat’s palmetto, too;
But then it shows what Southern girls
For Southern rights will do.
We send the bravest of our land,
To battle with the foe
And we will lend a helping hand--
We love the South, you know.


CHORUS--
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For the sunny South so dear;
Three cheers for the homespun dress
The Southern ladies wear!


Now Northern goods are out of date;
And since old Abe’s blockade,
We Southern girls can be content
With goods that’s Southern made.
We send our sweethearts to the war;
But, dear girls, never mind--
Your soldier—love will ne’er forget
The girl he left behind.


CHORUS--
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For the sunny South so dear;
Three cheers for the homespun dress
The Southern ladies wear!


The soldier is the lad for me--
A brave heart I adore;
And when the sunny South is free,
And when fighting is no more,
I’ll choose me then a lover brave
From all that gallant band;
The soldier lad I love the best
Shall have my heart and hand.


CHORUS--
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For the sunny South so dear;
Three cheers for the homespun dress
The Southern ladies wear!


The Southern land’s a glorious land,
And has a glorious cause;
Then cheer, three cheers for Southern rights,
And for the Southern boys!
We scorn to wear a bit of silk,
A bit of Northern lace,
But make our homespun dresses up,
And wear them with a grace.


CHORUS--
Hurrah! Hurrah!

This poem and accompanying commentary appear in ​ Confederate Poets & Poems, Volume I, The Land They Loved, Volume 2 of the series available from Shotwell Publishing.