The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane



"The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane" is a popular song written by Will S. Hays in 1871 for the minstrel trade. Written in dialect, the song tells of an elderly man, presumably a slave or former slave, passing his latter years in a broken-down old log cabin. The title is from a refrain: "de little old log cabin in de lane".

The song itself was popular, resulting in several answer songs, but the melody was even more widely used, finding itself adapted to a variety of other songs: Western songs such as "The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim" and "Little Joe, The Wrangler"; railroad songs, "Little Red Caboose Behind The Train"; and even hymns, "The Lily of the Valley".

Fiddlin' John Carson's recording of "The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane" was one of the first commercial recordings by a rural white musician. Its popularity ensured that the industry would continue recording rural folk songs.

The song has since become a Bluegrass standard.