Paul A. Etherington refers in yesterday's MMD to a musical box with the
melody "In The Strand." I once owned a box (made, I believe, by
Bremond) with this tune named on the tune-sheet. But I found that,
although the title is unfamiliar, the tune certainly is not. It is
"Dixie's Land" (or just "Dixie"). It is a kind of parody, and the
words go "I wish I was with Nancy, in the strand, in the strand."
Daniel Decatur Emmett released the original in the USA, and within
months, the British version referring to the famous London street
appeared. There was also a later parody during the First World War,
this one being "I Wish I Was In Blighty."
Michael Woolf
New Zealand
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