This tune has often been called the original Virginia Reel. In this episode, we can see soldiers dancing together in the background, while others watch and clap in time with the music. We had included this scene because we wanted to try and capture the essence of what young Private David Holt of Co. K, 18th Mississippi, wrote wrote in his excellent post-war account, in December of 1862:

“Co.K had one violinist and five fiddlers and we made use of them by inaugurating dances. Owing to ladies not being anywhere about, men substituted and were so designated by having a handkerchief tied around their arms. With a big bonfire at each end of the company street, we used the space between for our dance hall.”

Private Tally Simpson, of the 3rd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, a ‘brother’ regiment in Kershaw’s legendary South Carolina brigade, wrote home to his sister in March of 1863: “The minstrels are carrying the day. They perform excellently and afford intense amusement.” He later observed, “Tis said that Kershaw’s is the finest minstrel band in these parts, and I am inclined to believe it.”

Private Holt went on to write in December of 1863 that, “At short intervals, there would be a concert of classical music… Beethoven’s Mass in C, and Meyerbeer’s opera of the Hugenots. The fine music seemed to renew one’s hold on the amenities… of civilized life. It lifted us above the grime and the grind of our condition, out of the discord of war and into the harmony and peace of God.”

McLeod's Reel is a traditional 18th century Scottish fiddle tune first published in Neil Gow’s Strathspey Reels of 1809. By the mid-19th century, its growth in popularity had made it a staple anywhere reels were danced, and it is still commonly performed in modern dance ensembles. It was especially popular with the Scottish colonial settlers of the North Carolina-Appalachian Mountain regions.