The title refers to the wild part of town or the red-light district. The tune and words are believed to have been composed by George Washington Dixon prior to 1827 and went on to become popular on the minstrel stage. A version is found in Christy’s Negro Songster, an 1855 collection of minstrel songs. (Kuntz) Whitt has chosen Emmett Lundy’s setting, probably learned from “old man Green Leonard.”