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Title: Negro Folk Rhymes - Wise and Otherwise: With a Study
Author: Talley, Thomas Washington
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Negro Folk Rhymes - Wise and Otherwise: With a Study" ***
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Transcriber's Note: Other than the minor corrections and changes listed
at the end of this text, all spelling and punctuation is as it appeared
in the original. Musical notations appearing in the original book have
been replaced with [music]. The placement of footnote markers was
irregular in the original--this has been retained.
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NEGRO FOLK RHYMES
[Publisher's Device]
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
NEGRO FOLK RHYMES
_Wise and Otherwise_
WITH A STUDY
BY
THOMAS W. TALLEY,
OF FISK UNIVERSITY
[Decoration]
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1922
_All rights reserved_
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Copyright, 1922,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
* * *
Set up and printed. Published January, 1922.
Press of
J. J. Little & Ives Company
New York, U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION
Of the making of books by individual authors there is no end; but a
cultivated literary taste among the exceptional few has rendered almost
impossible the production of genuine folk-songs. The spectacle,
therefore, of a homogeneous throng of partly civilized people dancing to
the music of crude instruments and evolving out of dance-rhythm a
lyrical or narrative utterance in poetic form is sufficiently rare in
the nineteenth century to challenge immediate attention. In _Negro Folk
Rhymes_ is to be found no inconsiderable part of the musical and poetic
life-records of a people; the compiler presents an arresting volume
which, in addition to being a pioneer and practically unique in its
field, is as nearly exhaustive as a sympathetic understanding of the
Negro mind, careful research, and labor of love can make it. Professor
Talley of Fisk University has spared himself no pains in collecting and
piecing together every attainable scrap and fragment of secular rhyme
which might help in adequately interpreting the inner life of his own
people.
Being the expression of a race in, or just emerging from bondage, these
songs may at first seem to some readers trivial and almost wholly devoid
of literary merit. In phraseology they may appear crude, lacking in that
elegance and finish ordinarily associated with poetic excellence; in
imagery they are at times exceedingly winter-starved, mediocre, common,
drab, scarcely ever rising above the unhappy environment of the singers.
The outlook upon life and nature is, for the most part, one of
imaginative simplicity and child-like naïveté; superstitions crowd in
upon a worldly wisdom that is elementary, practical, and obvious; and a
warped and crooked human nature, developed and fostered by
circumstances, shows frequently through the lines. What else might be
expected? At the time when these rhymes were in process of being created
the conditions under which the American Negro lived and labored were not
calculated to inspire him with a desire for the highest artistic
expression. Restricted, cramped, bound in unwilling servitude, he looked
about him in his miserable little world to see whatever of the beautiful
or happy he might find; that which he discovered is pathetically slight,
but, such as it is, it served to keep alive his stunted artist-soul
under the most adverse circumstances. He saw the sweet pinks under a
blue sky, or observed the fading violets and the roses that fall, as he
passed to a tryst under the oak trees of a forest, and wrought these
things into his songs of love and tenderness. Friendless and otherwise
without companionship he lived in imagination with the beasts and birds
of the great out-of-doors; he knew personally Mr. Coon, Brother Rabbit,
Mr. 'Possum and their associates of the wild; Judge Buzzard and Sister
Turkey appealed to his fancy as offering material for what he supposed
to be poetic treatment. Wherever he might find anything in his lowly
position which seemed to him truly useful or beautiful, he seized upon
it and wove about it the sweetest song he could sing. The result is not
so much poetry of a high order as a valuable illustration of the
persistence of artist-impulses even in slavery.
In some of these folk-songs, however, may be found certain qualities
which give them dignity and worth. They are, when properly presented,
rhythmical to the point of perfection. I myself have heard many of them
chanted with and without the accompaniment of clapping hands, stamping
feet, and swaying bodies. Unfortunately a large part of their liquid
melody and flexibility of movement is lost through confinement in cold
print; but when they are heard from a distance on quiet summer nights
or clear Southern mornings, even the most fastidious ear is satisfied
with the rhythmic pulse of them. That pathos of the Negro character
which can never be quite adequately caught in words or transcribed in
music is then augmented and intensified by the peculiar quality of the
Negro voice, rich in overtones, quavering, weird, cadenced, throbbing
with the sufferings of a race. Or perhaps that well-developed sense of
humor which has, for more than a century, made ancestral sorrows
bearable finds fuller expression in the lilting turn of a note than in
the flashes of wit which abundantly enliven the pages of this volume.
There is one lyric in particular which, in evident sincerity of feeling,
simple and unaffected grace, and regularity of form, appeals to me as
having intrinsic literary value:
She hug' me, an' she kiss' me,
She wrung my han' an' cried.
She said I wus de sweetes' thing
Dat ever lived or died.
She hug' me an' she kiss' me.
Oh Heaben! De touch o' her han'!
She said I wus de puttiest thing
In de shape o' mortal man.
I told her dat I love' her,
Dat my love wus bed-cord strong;
Den I axed her w'en she'd have me,
An' she jes' say, "Go 'long!"
There is also a dramatic quality about many of these rhymes which must
not be overlooked. It has long been my observation that the Negro is
possessed by nature of considerable, though not as yet highly developed,
histrionic ability; he takes delight in acting out in pantomime whatever
he may be relating in song or story. It is not surprising, then, to find
that the play-rhymes, originating from the "call" and "response," are
really little dramas when presented in their proper settings. "Caught By
The Witch" would not be ineffective if, on a dark night, it were acted
in the vicinity of a graveyard! And one ballad--if I may be permitted to
dignify it by that name--called "Promises of Freedom" is characterized
by an unadorned narrative style and a dramatic ending which are
associated with the best English folk-ballads. The singer tells simply
and, one feels, with a grim impersonality of how his mistress promised
to set him free; it seemed as if she would never die--but "she's somehow
gone"! His master likewise made promises,
Yes, my ole Mosser promise' me;
But "his papers" didn't leave me free.
A dose of pizen he'pped 'im along.
May de Devil preach 'is fūner'l song.
The manner of this conclusion is strikingly like that of the Scottish
ballad, "Edward,"
The curse of hell frae me sall ye beir,
Mither, Mither,
The curse of hell frae me sall ye beir,
Sic counseils ye gave to me O.
In both a story of cruelty is suggested in a single artistic line and
ended with startling, dramatic abruptness.
In fact, these two songs probably had their ultimate origin in not
widely dissimilar types of illiterate, unsophisticated human society.
Professor Talley's "Study in Negro Folk Rhymes," appended to this volume
of songs, is illuminating. One may not be disposed to accept without
considerable modification his theories entire; still his account from
personal, first-hand knowledge of the beginnings and possible evolution
of certain rhymes in this collection is apparently authentic. Here we
have again, in the nineteenth century, the record of a singing, dancing
people creating by a process approximating communal authorship a mass
of verse embodying tribal memories, ancestral superstitions, and racial
wisdom handed down from generation to generation through oral tradition.
These are genuine folk-songs--lyrics, ballads, rhymes--in which are
crystallized the thought and feeling, the universally shared lore of a
folk. Recent theorizers on poetic origins who would insist upon
individual as opposed to community authorship of certain types of
song-narrative might do well to consider Professor Talley's
characteristic study. And students of comparative literature who love to
recreate the life of a tribe or nation from its song and story will
discover in this collection a mine of interesting material.
Fisk University, the center of Negro culture in America, is to be
congratulated upon having initiated the gathering and preservation of
these relics, a valuable heritage from the past. Just how important for
literature this heritage may prove to be will not appear until this
institution--and others with like purposes--has fully developed by
cultivation, training, and careful fostering the artistic impulses so
abundantly a part of the Negro character. A race which has produced,
under the most disheartening conditions, a mass of folk-poetry such as
_Negro Folk Rhymes_ may be expected to create with unlimited
opportunities for self-development, a literature and a distinctive music
of superior quality.
WALTER CLYDE CURRY.
Vanderbilt University,
September 30, 1921.
PART I
NEGRO FOLK RHYMES
DANCE RHYME SECTION
JONAH'S BAND PARTY
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Han's up sixteen! Circle to de right!
We's gwine to git big eatin's here to-night."
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Raise yo' right foot, kick it up high,
Knock dat [1]Mobile Buck in de eye."
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Stan' up, flat foot, [1]Jump dem Bars!
[1]Karo back'ards lak a train o' kyars."
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Dance 'round, Mistiss, show 'em de p'int;
Dat Nigger don't know how to [1]Coonjaint."
[1] These are dance steps. For explanation read the Study in Negro Folk
Rhymes.
LOVE IS JUST A THING OF FANCY
Love is jes a thing o' fancy,
Beauty's jes a blossom;
If you wants to git yō' finger bit,
Stick it at a 'possum.
Beauty, it's jes skin deep;
Ugly, it's to de bone.
Beauty, it'll jes fade 'way;
But Ugly'll hōl' 'er own.
STILL WATER CREEK
'Way down yon'er on Still Water Creek,
I got stalded an' stayed a week.
I see'd Injun Puddin and Punkin pie,
But de black cat stick 'em in de yaller cat's eye.
'Way down yon'er on Still Water Creek,
De Niggers grows up some ten or twelve feet.
Dey goes to bed but dere hain't no use,
Caze deir feet sticks out fer de chickens t' roost.
I got hongry on Still Water Creek,
De mud to de hub an' de hoss britchin weak.
I stewed bullfrog chitlins, baked polecat pie;
If I goes back dar, I shō's gwine to die.
'POSSUM UP THE GUM STUMP
'Possum up de gum stump,
Dat raccoon in de holler;
Twis' 'im out, an' git 'im down,
An' I'll gin you a half a doller.
'Possum up de gum stump,
Yes, cooney in de holler;
A pretty gal down my house
Jes as fat as she can waller.
'Possum up de gum stump,
His jaws is black an' dirty;
To come an' kiss you, pretty gal,
I'd run lak a gobbler tucky.
'Possum up de gum stump,
A good man's hard to fīn';
You'd better love me, pretty gal,
You'll git de yudder kīn'.
JOE AND MALINDA JANE
Ole Joe jes swore upon 'is life
He'd make Merlindy Jane 'is wife.
W'en she hear 'im up 'is love an' tell,
She jumped in a bar'l o' mussel shell.
She scrape 'er back till de skin come off.
Nex' day she die wid de Whoopin' Cough.
WALK, TALK, CHICKEN WITH YOUR HEAD PECKED!
Walk, talk, chicken wid yō' head pecked!
You can crow w'en youse been dead.
Walk, talk, chicken wid yō' head pecked!
You can hōl' high yō' bloody head.
You's whooped dat Blue Hen's Chicken,
You's beat 'im at his game.
If dere's some fedders on him,
Fer dat you's not to blame.
Walk, talk, chicken wid yō' head pecked!
You beat ole Johnny Blue!
Walk, talk, chicken wid yō' head pecked!
Say: "Cock-a-doo-dle-doo--!"
TAILS
De coon's got a long ringed bushy tail,
De 'possum's tail is bare;
Dat rabbit hain't got no tail 'tall,
'Cep' a liddle bunch o' hair.
De gobbler's got a big fan tail,
De pattridge's tail is small;
Dat peacock's tail 's got great big eyes,
But dey don't see nothin' 'tall.
CAPTAIN DIME
Cappun Dime is a fine w'ite man.
He wash his face in a fry'n' pan,
He comb his head wid a waggin wheel,
An' he die wid de toothache in his heel.
Cappun Dime is a mighty fine feller,
An' he shō' play kyards wid de Niggers in de cellar,
But he will git drunk, an' he won't smoke a pipe,
Den he will pull de watermillions 'fore dey gits ripe.
CROSSING THE RIVER
I went down to de river an' I couldn' git 'cross.
I jumped on er mule an' I thought 'e wus er hoss.
Dat mule 'e wa'k in an' git mired up in de san';
You'd oughter see'd dis Nigger make back fer de lan'!
I want to cross de river but I caint git 'cross;
So I mounted on a ram, fer I thought 'e wus er hoss.
I plunged him in, but he sorter fail to swim;
An' I give five dollars fer to git 'im out ag'in.
Yes, I went down to de river an' I couldn' git 'cross,
So I give a whole dollar fer a ole blin' hoss;
Den I souzed him in an' he sink 'stead o' swim.
Do you know I got wet clean to my ole hat brim?
T-U-TURKEY
T-u, tucky, T-u, ti.
T-u, tucky, buzzard's eye.
T-u, tucky, T-u, ting.
T-u, tucky, buzzard's wing.
Oh, Mistah Washin'ton! Don't whoop me,
Whoop dat Nigger Back 'hind dat tree.
He stole tucky, I didn' steal none.
Go wuk him in de co'n field jes fer fun.
CHICKEN IN THE BREAD TRAY
"Auntie, will yō' dog bite?"--
"No, Chile! No!"
Chicken in de bread tray
A makin' up dough.
"Auntie, will yō' broom hit?"--
"Yes, Chile!" Pop!
Chicken in de bread tray;
"Flop! Flop! Flop!"
"Auntie, will yō' oven bake?"--
"Yes. Jes fry!"--
"What's dat chicken good fer?"--
"Pie! Pie! Pie!"
"Auntie, is yō' pie good?"--
"Good as you could 'spec'."
Chicken in de bread tray;
"Peck! Peck! Peck!"
MOLLY COTTONTAIL, OR, GRAVEYARD RABBIT
Ole Molly Cottontail,
At night, w'en de moon's pale;
You don't fail to tu'n tail,
You always gives me leg bail.[2]
Molly in de Bramble-brier,
Let me git a little nigher;
Prickly-pear, it sting lak fire!
Do please come pick out de brier!
Molly in de pale moonlight,
Yō' tail is shō a pretty white;
You takes it fer 'way out'n sight.
"Molly! Molly! Molly Bright!"
Ole Molly Cottontail,
You sets up on a rotten rail!
You tears through de graveyard!
You makes dem ugly [3]hants wail.
Ole Molly Cottontail,
Won't you be shore not to fail
[4]To give me yō' right hīn' foot?
My luck, it won't be fer sale.
[2] Leg bail = to run away.
[3] Hants = ghosts or spirits.
[4] This embraces the old superstition that carrying in one's pocket the
right hind foot of a rabbit, which has habitually lived about a
cemetery, brings good luck to its possessor.
[5]JUBA
Juba dis, an' Juba dat,
Juba [6]skin dat Yaller Cat. Juba! Juba!
Juba jump an' Juba sing.
Juba, [6]cut dat Pigeon's Wing. Juba! Juba!
Juba, kick off Juba's shoe.
Juba, dance dat [6]Jubal Jew. Juba! Juba!
Juba, whirl dat foot about.
Juba, blow dat candle out. Juba! Juba!
Juba circle, [6]Raise de Latch.
Juba do dat [6]Long Dog Scratch. Juba! Juba!
[5] This peculiar kind of dance rhyme is explained in the Study in Negro
Folk Rhymes.
[6] The expressions marked [6] are various kinds of dance steps.
ON TOP OF THE POT
Wild goose gallop an' gander trot;
Walk about, Mistiss, on top o' de pot!
Hog jowl bilin', an' tunnup greens hot,
Walk about, Billie, on top o' de pot!
Chitlins, hog years, all on de spot,
Walk about, ladies, on top o' de pot!
[7]STAND BACK, BLACK MAN
_Oh!_
Stan' back, black man,
You cain't shine;
Yō' lips is too thick,
An' you hain't my kīn'.
_Aw!_
Git 'way, black man,
You jes haint fine;
I'se done quit foolin'
Wid de nappy-headed kind.
_Say?_
Stan' back, black man!
Cain't you see
Dat a kinky-headed chap
Hain't nothin' side o' me?
[7] In a few places in the South, just following the Civil War, the
Mulattoes organized themselves into a little guild known as "The Blue
Vein Circle," from which those who were black were excluded. This is one
of their rhymes.
NEGROES NEVER DIE
Nigger! Nigger never die!
He gits choked on Chicken pie.
Black face, white shiny eye. Nigger! Nigger!
Nigger! Nigger never knows!
Mashed nose, an' crooked toes;
Dat's de way de Nigger goes. Nigger! Nigger!
Nigger! Nigger always sing;
Jump up, cut de Pidgeon's wing;
Whirl, an' give his feet a fling. Nigger! Nigger!
JAWBONE
Samson, shout! Samson, moan!
Samson, bring on yō' Jawbone.
Jawbone, walk! Jawbone, talk!
Jawbone, eat wid a knife an fo'k.
Walk, Jawbone! Jinny, come alon'!
Yon'er goes Sally wid de bootees on.
Jawbone, ring! Jawbone, sing!
Jawbone, kill dat wicked thing.
INDIAN FLEA
Injun flea, bit my knee;
Kaze I wouldn' drink ginger tea.
Flea bite hard, flea bite quick;
Flea bite burn lak dat seed tick.
Hit dat flea, flea not dere.
I'se so mad I pulls my hair.
I go wild an' fall in de creek.
To wash 'im off, I'd stay a week.
AS I WENT TO SHILOH
As I went down
To Shiloh Town;
I rolled my barrel of Sogrum down.
Dem lasses rolled;
An' de hoops, dey bust;
An' blowed dis Nigger clear to Thundergust!
JUMP JIM CROW
Git fus upon yō' heel,
An' den upon yō' toe;
An ebry time you tu'n 'round,
You jump Jim Crow.
Now fall upon yō' knees,
Jump up an' bow low;
An' ebry time you tu'n 'round,
You jump Jim Crow.
Put yō' han's upon yō' hips,
Bow low to yō' beau;
An' ebry time you tu'n 'round,
You jump Jim Crow.
DANCE RHYME SONG SECTION
[music]
JAYBIRD
De Jaybird jump from lim' to lim',
An' he tell Br'er Rabbit to do lak him.
Br'er Rabbit say to de cunnin' elf:
"You jes want me to fall an' kill myself."
Dat Jaybird a-settin' on a swingin' lim'.
He wink at me an' I wink at him.
He laugh at me w'en my gun "crack."
It kick me down on de flat o' my back.
Nex' day de Jaybird dance dat lim'.
I grabs my gun fer to shoot at him.
W'en I "crack" down, it split my chin.
"Ole Aggie Cunjer" fly lak sin.
Way down yon'er at de risin' sun,
Jaybird a-talkin' wid a forked tongue.
[8]He's been down dar whar de bad mens dwell.
"Ole Friday Devil," fare--you--well!
[8] A superstition. For explanation, see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.
OFF FROM RICHMOND
I'se off from Richmon' sooner in de mornin'.
I'se off from Richmon' befō' de break o' day.
I slips off from Mosser widout pass an' warnin'
Fer I mus' see my Donie wharever she may stay.
HE IS MY HORSE
One day as I wus a-ridin' by,
Said dey: "Ole man, yō' hoss will die"--
"If he dies, he is my loss;
An' if he lives, he is my hoss."
Nex' day w'en I come a-ridin' by,
Dey said: "Ole man, yō' hoss may die."--
"If he dies, I'll tan 'is skin;
An' if he lives, I'll ride 'im ag'in."
Den ag'in w'en I come a-ridin' by,
Said dey: "Ole man, yō' hoss mought die."--
"If he dies, I'll eat his co'n;
An' if he lives, I'll ride 'im on."
[9]JUDGE BUZZARD
Dere sets Jedge Buzzard on de Bench.
Go tu'n him off wid a monkey wrench!
Jedge Buzzard try Br'er Rabbit's case;
An' he say Br'er Tarepin win dat race.
Here sets Jedge Buzzard on de Bench.
Knock him off wid dat monkey wrench!
[9] See Study in Negro Rhymes for explanation.
SHEEP AND GOAT
Sheep an' goat gwine to de paster;
Says de goat to de sheep: "Cain't you walk a liddle faster?"
De sheep says: "I cain't, I'se a liddle too full."
Den de goat say: "You can wid my ho'ns in yō' wool."
But de goat fall down an' skin 'is shin
An' de sheep split 'is lip wid a big broad grin.
JACKSON, PUT THAT KETTLE ON!
Jackson, put dat kittle on!
Fire, steam dat coffee done!
Day done broke, an' I got to run
Fer to meet my gal by de risin' sun.
My ole Mosser say to me,
Dat I mus' drink [10]sassfac tea;
But Jackson stews dat coffee done,
An' he shō' gits his po'tion: Son!
[10] Sassfac = sassafras.
DINAH'S DINNER HORN
It's a cōl', frosty mornin',
An' de Niggers goes to wo'k;
Wid deir axes on deir shoulders,
An' widout a bit o' [11]shu't.
Dey's got ole husky ashcake,
Widout a bit o' fat;
An' de white folks'll grumble,
If you eats much o' dat.
I runs down to de henhouse,
An' I falls upon my knees;
It's 'nough to make a rabbit laugh
To hear my tucky sneeze.
I grows up on dem meatskins,
I comes down on a bone;
I hits dat co'n bread fifty licks,
I makes dat butter moan.
It's glory in yō' honor!
An' don't you want to go?
I sholy will be ready
Fer dat dinnah ho'n to blow.
Dat ole bell, it goes "Bangity--bang!"
Fer all dem white folks bo'n.
But I'se not ready fer to go
Till Dinah blows her ho'n.
"Poke--sallid!" "Poke--sallid!"
Dat ole ho'n up an' blow.
Jes think about dem good ole greens!
Say? Don't you want to go?
[11] Shu't = shirt.
MY MULE
Las' Saddy mornin' Mosser said:
"Jump up now, Sambo, out'n bed.
Go saddle dat mule, an' go to town;
An' bring home Mistiss' mornin' gown."
I saddled dat mule to go to town.
I mounted up an' he buck'd me down.
Den I jumped up from out'n de dust,
An' I rid him till I thought he'd bust.
BULLFROG PUT ON THE SOLDIER CLOTHES
Bullfrog put on de soldier clo's.
He went down yonder fer to shoot at de crows;
Wid a knife an' a fo'k between 'is toes,
An' a white hankcher fer to wipe 'is nose.
Bullfrog put on de soldier clo's.
He's a "dead shore shot," gwineter kill dem crows.
He takes "Pot," an' "Skillet" from de Fiddler's Ball.
Dey're to dance a liddle jig while Jim Crow fall.
Bullfrog put on de soldier clo's.
He went down de river fer to shoot at de crows.
De powder flash, an' de crows fly 'way;
An' de Bullfrog shoot at 'em all nex' day.
SAIL AWAY, LADIES!
Sail away, ladies! Sail away!
Sail away, ladies! Sail away!
Nev' min' what dem white folks say,
May de Mighty bless you. Sail away!
Nev' min' what yō' daddy say,
Shake yō' liddle foot an' fly away.
Nev' min' if yō' mammy say:
"De Devil'll git you." Sail away!
THE BANJO PICKING
Hush boys! Hush boys! Don't make a noise,
While ole Mosser's sleepin'.
We'll run down de Graveyard, an' take out de bones,
An' have a liddle Banjer pickin'.
I takes my Banjer on a Sunday mornin'.
Dem ladies, dey 'vites me to come.
We slips down de hill an' picks de liddle chune:
"Walk, Tom Wilson Here Afternoon."
[12]"Walk Tom Wilson Here Afternoon";
"You Cain't Dance Lak ole Zipp Coon."
Pick [12]"Dinah's Dinner Ho'n" "Dance 'Round de Room."
"Sweep dat Kittle Wid a Bran' New Broom."
[12] Those marked [12] are found elsewhere in this volume. We were
unable to obtain the other three.
OLD MOLLY HARE
Ole Molly har'!
What's you doin' thar?
"I'se settin' in de fence corner, smokin' seegyar."
Ole Molly har'!
What's you doin' thar?
"I'se pickin' out a br'or, settin' on a Pricky-p'ar."
Ole Molly har'!
What's you doin' thar?
"I'se gwine cross de Cotton Patch, hard as I can t'ar."
Molly har' to-day,
So dey all say,
Got her pipe o' clay, jes to smoke de time 'way.
"De dogs say 'boo!'
An' dey barks too,
I hain't got no time fer to talk to you."
ONE NEGRO TUNE USED WITH "AN OPOSSUM HUNT"
[music]
AN OPOSSUM HUNT
'Possum meat is good an' sweet,
I always finds it good to eat.
My dog tree, I went to see.
A great big 'possum up dat tree.
I retch up an' pull him in,
Den dat ole 'possum 'gin to grin.
I tuck him home an' dressed him off,
Dat night I laid him in de fros'.
De way I cooked dat 'possum sound,
I fust parboiled, den baked him brown.
I put sweet taters in de pan,
'Twus de bigges' eatin' in de lan'.
DEVILISH PIGS
I wish I had a load o' poles,
To fence my new-groun' lot;
To keep dem liddle bitsy debblish pigs
Frum a-rootin' up all I'se got.
Dey roots my cabbage, roots my co'n;
Dey roots up all my beans.
Dey speilt my fine sweet-tater patch,
An' dey ruint my tunnup greens.
I'se rund dem pigs, an' I'se rund dem pigs.
I'se gittin' mighty hot;
An' one dese days w'en nobody look,
Dey'll root 'round in my pot.
PROMISES OF FREEDOM
My ole Mistiss promise me,
W'en she died, she'd set me free.
She lived so long dat 'er head got bal',
An' she give out'n de notion a dyin' at all.
My ole Mistiss say to me:
"Sambo, I'se gwine ter set you free."
But w'en dat head git slick an' bal',
De Lawd couldn' a' killed 'er wid a big green maul.
My ole Mistiss never die,
Wid 'er nose all hooked an' skin all dry.
But my ole Miss, she's somehow gone,
An' she lef' "Uncle Sambo" a-hillin' up co'n.
Ole Mosser lakwise promise me,
W'en he died, he'd set me free.
But ole Mosser go an' make his Will
Fer to leave me a-plowin' ole Beck still.
Yes, my ole Mosser promise me;
But "his papers" didn' leave me free.
A dose of pizen he'ped 'im along.
May de Devil preach 'is fūner'l song.
WHEN MY WIFE DIES
W'en my wife dies, gwineter git me anudder one;
A big fat yaller one, jes lak de yudder one.
I'll hate mighty bad, w'en she's been gone.
Hain't no better 'oman never nowhars been bo'n.
W'en I comes to die, you mus'n' bury me deep,
But put Sogrum molasses close by my feet.
Put a pone o' co'n bread way down in my han'.
Gwineter sop on de way to de Promus' Lan'.
W'en I goes to die, Nobody mus'n' cry,
Mus'n' dress up in black, fer I mought come back.
But w'en I'se been dead, an' almos' fergotten;
You mought think about me an' keep on a-trottin'.
Railly, w'en I'se been dead, you needn' bury me at tall.
You mought pickle my bones down in alkihall;
Den fold my han's "so," right across my breas';
An' go an' tell de folks I'se done gone to "res'."
ONE TUNE USED WITH "BAA! BAA! BLACK SHEEP!"
[music]
BAA! BAA! BLACK SHEEP
"Baa! Baa! Black Sheep,
Has you got wool?"
"Yes, good Mosser,
Free bags full.
One fer ole Mistis,
One fer Miss Dame,
An' one fer de good Nigger
Jes across de lane."
Pōōr liddle Black Sheep,
Pōōr liddle lammy;
Pōōr liddle Black Sheep's
Got no mammy.
HE WILL GET MR. COON
Ole Mistah Coon, at de break o' day,
You needn' think youse gwineter git 'way.
Caze ole man Ned, he know how to run,
An' he's shō' gone fer to git 'is gun.
You needn' clam to dat highes' lim',
You cain't git out'n de retch o' him.
You can stay up dar till de sun done set.
I'll bet you a dollar dat he'll git you yet.
Ole Mistah Coon, you'd well's to give up.
You had well's to give up, I say.
Caze ole man Ned is straight atter you,
An' he'll git you shō' this day.
BRING ON YOUR HOT CORN
Bring along yō' hot co'n,
Bring along yō' col' co'n;
But I say bring along,
Bring along yō' [13]Jimmy-john.
Some loves de hot co'n,
Some loves de col' co'n;
But I loves, I loves,
I loves dat Jimmy-john.
[13] Jimmy-john = a whiskey jug.
THE LITTLE ROOSTER
I had a liddle rooster,
He crowed befō' day.
'Long come a big owl,
An' toted him away.
But de rooster fight hard,
An' de owl let him go.
Now all de pretty hens
Wants dat rooster fer deir beau.
SUGAR IN COFFEE
Sheep's in de meader a-mowin' o' de hay.
De honey's in de bee-gum, so dey all say.
My head's up an' I'se boun' to go.
Who'll take sugar in de coffee-o?
I'se de prettiest liddle gal in de county-o.
My mammy an' daddy, dey bofe say so.
I looks in de glass, it don't say, "No";
So I'll take sugar in de coffee-o.
[14]THE TURTLE'S SONG
Mud turkle settin' on de end of a log,
A-watchin' of a tadpole a-turnin' to a frog.
He sees Br'er B'ar a-pullin' lak a mule.
He sees Br'er Tearpin a-makin' him a fool.
Br'er B'ar pull de rope an' he puff an' he blow;
But he cain't git de Tearpin out'n de water from below.
Dat big clay root is a-holdin' dat rope,
Br'er Tearpin's got 'im fooled, an' dere hain't no hope.
Mud turkle settin' on de end o' dat log;
Sing fer de tadpole a-turnin' to a frog,
Sing to Br'er B'ar a-pullin' lak a mule,
Sing to Br'er Tearpin a-makin' 'im a fool:--
"Oh, Br'er Rabbit! Yō' eyes mighty big!"
"Yes, Br'er Turkle! Dey're made fer to see."
"Oh, Br'er Tearpin! Yō' house mighty cu'ous!"
"Yes, Br'er Turkle, but it jest suits me."
"Oh, Br'er B'ar! You pulls mighty stout."
"Yes, Br'er Turkle! Dat's right smart said!"
"Right, Br'er B'ar! Dat sounds bully good,
But you'd oughter git a liddle mō' pull in de head."
[14] For explanation see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.
RACCOON AND OPOSSUM FIGHT
De raccoon an' de 'possum
Under de hill a-fightin';
Rabbit almos' bust his sides
Laughin' at de bitin'.
De raccoon claw de 'possum
Along de ribs an' head;
'Possum tumble over an' grin,
Playin' lak he been dead.
COTTON EYED JOE
Hol' my fiddle an' hol' my bow,
Whilst I knocks ole Cotton Eyed Joe.
I'd a been dead some seben years ago,
If I hadn' a danced dat Cotton Eyed Joe.
Oh, it makes dem ladies love me so,
W'en I comes 'roun' pickin' ole Cotton Eyed Joe!
Yes, I'd a been married some forty year ago,
If I hadn' stay'd 'roun' wid Cotton Eyed Joe.
I hain't seed ole Joe, since way las' Fall;
Dey say he's been sol' down to Guinea Gall.
RABBIT SOUP
Rabbit soup! Rabbit sop!
Rabbit e't my tunnup top.
Rabbit hop, rabbit jump,
Rabbit hide behin' dat stump.
Rabbit stop, twelve o'clock,
Killed dat rabbit wid a rock.
Rabbit's mine. Rabbit's skin'.
Dress 'im off an' take 'im in.
Rabbit's on! Dance an' whoop!
Makin' a pot o' rabbit soup!
OLD GRAY MINK
I once did think dat I would sink,
But you know I wus dat ole gray mink.
Dat ole gray mink jes couldn' die,
W'en he thought about good chicken pie.
He swum dat creek above de mill,
An' he's killing an' eatin' chicken still.
RUN, NIGGER, RUN!
Run, Nigger, run! De [15]Patter-rollers'll ketch you.
Run, Nigger, run! It's almos' day.
Dat Nigger run'd, dat Nigger flew,
Dat Nigger tore his shu't in two.
All over dem woods and frou de paster,
Dem Patter-rollers shot; but de Nigger git faster,
Oh, dat Nigger whirl'd, dat Nigger wheel'd,
Dat Nigger tore up de whole co'n field.
[15] Patrollers, or white guards; on duty at night during the days of
slavery; whose duty it was to see that slaves without permission to go,
stayed at home.
SHAKE THE PERSIMMONS DOWN
De raccoon up in de 'simmon tree.
Dat 'possum on de groun'.
De 'possum say to de raccoon: "Suh!"
"Please shake dem 'simmons down."
De raccoon say to de 'possum: "Suh!"
(As he grin from down below),
"If you wants dese good 'simmons, man,
Jes clam up whar dey grow."
THE COW NEEDS A TAIL IN FLY-TIME
Dat ole black sow, she can root in de mud,
She can tumble an' roll in de slime;
But dat big red cow, she git all mired up,
So dat cow need a tail in fly-time.
Dat ole gray hoss, wid 'is ole bob tail,
You mought buy all 'is ribs fer a dime;
But dat ole gray hoss can git a kiver on,
Whilst de cow need a tail in fly-time.
Dat Nigger Overseer, dat's a-ridin' on a mule,
Cain't make hisse'f white lak de lime;
Mosser mought take 'im down fer a notch or two,
Den de cow'd need a tail in fly-time.
JAYBIRD DIED WITH THE WHOOPING COUGH
De Jaybird died wid de Whoopin' Cough,
De Sparrer died wid de colic;
'Long come de Red-bird, skippin' 'round,
Sayin': "Boys, git ready fer de Frolic!"
De Jaybird died wid de Whoopin' Cough,
De Bluebird died wid de Measles;
'Long come a Nigger wid a fiddle on his back,
'Vitin' Crows fer to dance wid de Weasels.
Dat Mockin'-bird, he romp an' sing;
Dat ole Gray Goose come prancin'.
Dat Thrasher stuff his mouf wid plums,
Den he caper on down to de dancin'.
Dey hopped it low, an' dey hopped it high;
Dey hopped it to, an' dey hopped it by;
Dey hopped it fer, an' dey hopped it nigh;
Dat fiddle an' bow jes make 'em fly.
WANTED! CORNBREAD AND COON
I'se gwine now a-huntin' to ketch a big fat coon.
Gwineter bring him home, an' bake him, an' eat him wid a spoon.
Gwineter baste him up wid gravy, an' add some onions too.
I'se gwineter shet de Niggers out, an' stuff myse'f clean through.
I wants a piece o' hoecake; I wants a piece o' bread,
An' I wants a piece o' Johnnycake as big as my ole head.
I wants a piece o' ash cake: I wants dat big fat coon!
An' I shō' won't git hongry 'fore de middle o' nex' June.
LITTLE RED HEN
My liddle red hen, wid a liddle white foot,
Done built her nes' in a huckleberry root.
She lay mō' aigs dan a flock on a fahm.
Anudder liddle drink wouldn' do us no harm.
My liddle red hen hatch fifty red chicks
In dat liddle ole nes' of huckleberry sticks.
Wid one mō' drink, ev'y chick'll make two!
Come, bring it on, Honey, an' let's git through.
RATION DAY
Dat ration day come once a week,
Ole Mosser's rich as Gundy;
But he gives us 'lasses all de week,
An' buttermilk fer Sund'y.
Ole Mosser give me a pound o' meat.
I e't it all on Mond'y;
Den I e't 'is 'lasses all de week,
An' buttermilk fer Sund'y.
Ole Mosser give me a peck o' meal,
I fed and cotch my tucky;
But I e't dem 'lasses all de week,
An' buttermilk fer Sund'y.
Oh laugh an' sing an' don't git tired.
We's all gwine home, some Mond'y,
To de honey ponds an' fritter trees;
An' ev'ry day'll be Sund'y.
MY FIDDLE
If my ole fiddle wus jes in chune,
She'd bring me a dollar ev'y Friday night in June.
W'en my ole fiddle is fixed up right,
She bring me a dollar in nearly ev'y night.
W'en my ole fiddle begin to sing,
She make de whole plantation ring.
She bring me in a dollar an' sometime mō'.
Hurrah fer my ole fiddle an' bow!
DIE IN THE PIG-PEN FIGHTING
Dat ole sow said to de barrer:
"I'll tell you w'at let's do:
Let's go an' git dat broad-axe
And die in de pig-pen too."
"Die in de pig-pen fightin'!
Yes, die, die in de wah!
Die in de pig-pen fightin',
Yes, die wid a bitin' jaw!"
MASTER IS SIX FEET ONE WAY
Mosser is six foot one way, an' free foot tudder;
An' he weigh five hunderd pound.
Britches cut so big dat dey don't suit de tailor,
An' dey don't meet half way 'round.
Mosser's coat come back to a claw-hammer p'int.
(Speak sof' or his Bloodhound'll bite us.)
His long white stockin's mighty clean an' nice,
But a liddle mō' holier dan righteous.
FOX AND GEESE
Br'er Fox wa'k out one moonshiny night,
He say to hisse'f w'at he's a gwineter do.
He say, "I'se gwineter have a good piece o' meat,
Befō' I leaves dis townyoo.
Dis townyoo, dis townyoo!
Yes, befō' I leaves dis townyoo!"
Ole mammy Sopentater jump up out'n bed,
An' she poke her head outside o' de dō'.
She say: "Ole man, my gander's gone.
I heared 'im w'en he holler 'quinny-quanio,'
'Quinny-quanio, quinny-quanio!'
Yes, I heared 'im w'en he holler 'quinny-quanio.'"
GOOSEBERRY WINE
Now 'umble Uncle Steben,
I wonders whar youse gwine?
Don't never tu'n yō' back, Suh,
On dat good ole gooseberry wine!
Oh walk chalk, Ginger Blue!
Git over double trouble.
You needn' min' de wedder
So's de win' don't blow you double.
_Now!_
Uncle Mack! Uncle Mack!
Did you ever see de lak?
Dat good ole sweet gooseberry wine
Call Uncle Steben back.
I'D RATHER BE A NEGRO THAN A POOR WHITE MAN
My name's Ran, I wuks in de san';
But I'd druther be a Nigger dan a pō' white man.
Gwineter hitch my oxes side by side,
An' take my gal fer a big fine ride.
Gwineter take my gal to de country stō';
Gwineter dress her up in red calico.
You take Kate, an' I'll take Joe.
Den off we'll go to de pahty-o.
Gwineter take my gal to de Hullabaloo,
Whar dere hain't no [16]Crackers in a mile or two.
_Interlocution_:
(Fiddler) "Oh, Sal! Whar's de milk
strainer cloth?"
(Banjo Picker) "Bill's got it wropped
'round his ole sore leg."
(Fiddler) "Well, take it down to de
gum spring an' give it a cold water
rench; I 'spizes nastness anyway.
I'se got to have a clean
cloth fer de milk."
He don't lak whisky but he jest drinks a can.
Honey! I'd druther be a Nigger dan a pō' white man.
I'd druther be a Nigger, an' plow ole Beck
Dan a white [16]Hill Billy wid his long red neck.
[16] Names applied by Negroes to the poorer class of white people in the
South.
THE HUNTING CAMP
Sam got up one mornin'
A mighty big fros'.
Saw "A louse, in de huntin' camp
As big as any hoss!"
Sam run 'way down de mountain;
But w'en Mosser got dar,
He swore it twusn't nothin'
But a big black b'ar.
THE ARK
Ole Nora had a lots o' hands
A clearin' new ground patches.
He said he's gwineter build a Ark,
An' put tar on de hatches.
He had a sassy Mo'gan hoss
An' gobs of big fat cattle;
An' he driv' em all aboard de Ark,
W'en he hear de thunder rattle.
An' den de river riz so fas'
Dat it bust de levee railin's.
De lion got his dander up,
An' he lak to a broke de palin's.
An' on dat Ark wus daddy Ham;
No udder Nigger on dat packet.
He soon got tired o' de Barber Shop,
Caze he couln' stan' de racket.
An' den jes to amuse hisse'f,
He steamed a board an' bent it, Son.
Dat way he got a banjer up,
Fer ole Ham's de fust to make one.
Dey danced dat Ark from ēen to ēen,
Ole Nora called de Figgers.
Ole Ham, he sot an' knocked de chunes,
De happiest of de Niggers.
GRAY AND BLACK HORSES
I went down to de woods an' I couldn' go 'cross,
So I paid five dollars fer an ole gray hoss.
De hoss wouldn' pull, so I sōl' 'im fer a bull.
De bull wouldn' holler, so I sōl' 'im fer a dollar.
De dollar wouldn' pass, so I throwed it in de grass.
Den de grass wouldn' grow. Heigho! Heigho!
Through dat huckleberry woods I couldn' git far,
So I paid a good dollar fer an ole black mar'.
W'en I got down dar, de trees wouldn' bar;
So I had to gallop back on dat ole black mar'.
"Bookitie-bar!" Dat ole black mar'; "Bookitie-bar!" Dat ole black mar'.
Yes she trabble so hard dat she jolt off my ha'r.
RATTLER
Go call ole Rattler from de bo'n.
Here Rattler! Here!
He'll drive de cows out'n de co'n,
Here Rattler! Here!
Rattler is my huntin' dog.
Here Rattler! Here!
He's good fer rabbit, good fer hog,
Here Rattler! Here!
He's good fer 'possum in de dew.
Here Rattler! Here!
Sometimes he gits a chicken, too.
Here Rattler! Here!
BROTHER BEN AND SISTER SAL
Ole Br'er Ben's a mighty good ole man,
He don't steal chickens lak he useter.
He went down de chicken roos' las' Friday night,
An' tuck off a dominicker rooster.
Dere's ole Sis Sal, she climbs right well,
But she cain't 'gin to climb lak she useter.
So yonder she sets a shellin' out co'n
To Mammy's ole bob-tailed rooster.
Yes, ole Sis Sal's a mighty fine ole gal,
She's shō' extra good an' clever.
She's done tuck a notion all her own,
Dat she hain't gwineter marry never.
Ole Sis Sal's got a foot so big,
Dat she cain't wear no shoes an' gaiters.
So all she want is some red calico,
An' dem big yaller yam sweet taters.
Now looky, looky here! Now looky, looky there!
Jes looky!--Looky 'way over yonder!--
Don't you see dat ole gray goose
A-smilin' at de gander?
SIMON SLICK'S MULE
Dere wus a liddle kickin' man,
His name wus Simon Slick.
He had a mule wid cherry eyes.
Oh, how dat mule could kick!
An', Suh, w'en you go up to him,
He shet one eye an' smile;
Den 'e telegram 'is foot to you,
An' sen' you half a mile!
NOBODY LOOKING
Well: I look dis a way, an' I look dat a way,
An' I heared a mighty rumblin'.
W'en I come to find out, 'twus dad's black sow,
A-rootin' an' a-grumblin'.
Den: I slipped away down to de big White House.
Miss Sallie, she done gone 'way.
I popped myse'f in de rockin' chear,
An' I rocked myse'f all day.
Now: I looked dis a way, an' I looked dat a way,
An' I didn' see nobody in here.
I jes run'd my head in de coffee pot,
An' I drink'd up all o' de beer.
HOECAKE
If you wants to bake a hoecake,
To bake it good an' done;
Jes' slap it on a Nigger's heel,
An' hol' it to de sun.
Dat snake, he bake a hoecake,
An' sot de toad to mind it;
Dat toad he up an' go to sleep,
An' a lizard slip an' find it!
My mammy baked a hoecake,
As big as Alabamer.
She throwed it 'g'inst a Nigger's head
An' it ring jes' lak a hammer.
De way you bakes a hoecake,
In de ole Virginy 'tire;
You wrops it 'round a Nigger's heel,
An' hōl's it to de fire.
I WENT DOWN THE ROAD
I went down de road,
I went in a whoop;
An' I met Aunt Dinah
Wid a chicken pot o' soup.
Sing: "I went away from dar; hook-a-doo-dle, hook-a-doo-dle."
"I went away from dar; hook-a-doo-dle-doo!"
I drunk up dat soup,
An' I let her go by;
An' I tōl' her nex' time
To bring Missus' pot pie.
Sing: "Oh far'-you-well; hook-a-doo-dle, hook-a-doo-dle;
Oh far'-you-well, an' a hook-a-doo-dle-doo!"
THE OLD HEN CACKLED
De ole hen she cackled,
An' stayed down in de bo'n.
She git fat an' sassy,
A-eatin' up de co'n.
De ole hen she cackled,
Git great long yaller laigs.
She swaller down de oats,
But I don't git no aigs.
De ole hen she cackled,
She cackled in de lot,
De nex' time she cackled,
She cackled in de pot.
I LOVE SOMEBODY
I loves somebody, yes, I do;
An' I wants somebody to love me too.
Wid my chyart an' oxes stan'in' 'roun',
Her pretty liddle foot needn' tetch de groun'.
I loves somebody, yes, I do,
Dat randsome, handsome, Stickamastew.
Wid her reddingoat an' waterfall,
She's de pretty liddle gal dat beats 'em all.
WE ARE "ALL THE GO"
Yes! We's "All-de-go," boys; we's "All-de-go."
Me an' my Lulu gal's "All-de-go."
I jes' loves my sweet pretty liddle Lulu Ann,
But de way she gits my money I cain't hardly understan'.
W'en she up an' call me "Honey!" I fergits my name is Sam,
An' I hain't got one nickel lef' to git a me a dram.
Still: We's "All-de-go," boys; we's "All-de-go."
Me an' my Lulu gal's "All-de-go."
She's always gwine a-fishin', w'en she'd oughter not to go;
An' now she's all a troubled wid de frostes an' de snow.
I tells you jes one thing dat I'se done gone an' foun':
De Nigs cain't git no livin' 'round de Cō't House steps
an' town.
AUNT DINAH DRUNK
Ole Aunt Dinah, she got drunk.
She fell in de fire, an' she kicked up a chunk.
Dem embers got in Aunt Dinah's shoe,
An' dat black Nigger shō' got up an' flew.
I likes Aunt Dinah mighty, mighty well,
But dere's jes' one thing I hates an' 'spize:
She drinks mō' whisky dan de bigges' fool,
Den she up an' tell ten thousand lies.
Yes, I won't git drunk an' kick up a chunk.
I won't git drunk an' kick up a chunk.
I won't git drunk an' kick up a chunk,
'Way down on de ole Plank Road.
Oh shoo my Love! My turkle dove.
Oh shoo my Love! My turkle dove.
Oh shoo my Love! My turkle dove.
'Way down on de ole Plank Road.
THE OLD WOMAN IN THE HILLS
Once: Dere wus an ole 'oman
Dat lived in de hills;
Put rocks in 'er stockin's,
An' sent 'em to mill.
Den: De ole miller swore,
By de pint o' his knife;
Dat he never had ground up
No rocks in his life.
So: De ole 'oman said
To dat miller nex' day:
"You railly must 'scuse me,
It's de onliest way."
"I heared you made meal,
A-grindin' on stones.
I mus' 'ave heared wrong,
It mus' 'ave been bones."
A SICK WIFE
Las' Sadday night my wife tuck sick,
An' what d'you reckon ail her?
She e't a tucky gobbler's head
An' her stomach, it jes' fail her.
She squall out: "Sam, bring me some mint!
Make catnip up an' sage tea!"
I goes an' gits her all dem things,
But she throw 'em back right to me.
Says I: "Dear Honey! Mind nex' time!"
"Don't eat from 'A to Izzard'"
"I thinks you won' git sick at all,
If you saves pō' me de gizzard."
MY WONDERFUL TRAVEL
I come down from ole Virginny,
'Twas on a Summer day;
De wedder was all frez up,
'An' I skeeted all de way!
_Interlocution_:
Hand my banjer down to play,
Wanter pick fer dese ladies right away;
"W'en dey went to bed,
Dey couldn' shet deir eyes,"
An' "Dey was stan'in' on deir heads,
A-pickin' up de pies."
[17]I WOULD NOT MARRY A BLACK GIRL
I wouldn' marry a black gal,
I'll tell you de reason why:
When she goes to comb dat head
De naps'll 'gin to fly.
I wouldn' marry a black gal,
I'll tell you why I won't:
When she'd oughter wash her face--
Well, I'll jes say she don't.
I woudn' marry a black gal,
An' dis is why I say:
When you has her face around,
It never gits good day.
[17] For discussion see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.
HARVEST SONG
Las' year wus a good crap year,
An' we raised beans an' 'maters.
We didn' make much cotton an' co'n;
But, Goodness Life, de taters!
You can plow dat ole gray hoss,
I'se gwineter plow dat mulie;
An' w'en we's geddered in de craps,
I'se gwine down to see Julie.
I hain't gwineter wo'k on de railroad.
I hates to wo'k on de fahm.
I jes wants to set in de cool shade,
Wid my head on my Julie's ahm.
You swing Lou, an' I'll swing Sue.
Dere hain't no diffunce 'tween dese two.
You swing Lou, I'll swing my beau;
I'se gwineter buy my gal red calico.
YEAR OF JUBILEE
Niggers, has you seed ole Mosser;
(Red mustache on his face.)
A-gwine 'roun' sometime dis mawnin',
'Spectin' to leave de place?
Nigger Hands all runnin' 'way,
Looks lak we mought git free!
It mus' be now de [18]Kingdom Come
In de Year o' Jubilee.
Oh, yon'er comes ole Mosser
Wid his red mustache all white!
It mus' be now de Kingdom Come
Sometime to-morrer night.
Yanks locked him in de smokehouse cellar,
De key's throwed in de well:
It shō' mus' be de Kingdom Come.
Go ring dat Nigger field-bell!
[18] Kingdom Come = Freedom.
SHEEP SHELL CORN
_Oh_: De Ram blow de ho'n an' de sheep shell co'n;
An' he sen' it to de mill by de buck-eyed Whippoorwill.
Ole Joe's dead an' gone but his [19]Hant blows de ho'n;
An' his hound howls still from de top o' dat hill.
_Yes_: De Fish-hawk said unto Mistah Crane;
"I wishes to de Lawd dat you'd sen' a liddle rain;
Fer de water's all muddy, an de creek's gone dry;
If it 'twasn't fer de tadpoles we'd all die."
_Oh_: When de sheep shell co'n wid de rattle of his ho'n
I wishes to de Lawd I'd never been bo'n;
Caze when de Hant blows de ho'n, de sperits all dance,
An' de hosses an' de cattle, dey whirls 'round an' prance.
_Oh_: Yonder comes Skillet an' dere goes Pot;
An' here comes Jawbone 'cross de lot.
Walk Jawbone! Beat de Skillet an' de Pan!
You cut dat Pigeon's Wing, Black Man!
_Now_: Take keer, gemmuns, an' let me through;
Caze I'se gwineter dance wid liddle Mollie Lou.
But I'se never seed de lak since I'se been bo'n,
When de sheep shell co'n wid de rattle of his ho'n!
[19] Hant = spirit or ghost.
PLASTER
Chilluns:
Mammy an' daddy had a hoss,
Dey want a liddle bigger.
Dey sticked a plaster on his back
An' drawed a liddle Nigger.
Den:
Mammy an' daddy had a dog,
His tail wus short an' chunky.
Dey slapped a plaster 'round dat tail,
An' drawed it lak de monkey.
Well:
Mammy an' daddy's dead an' gone.
Did you ever hear deir story?
Dey sticked some plasters on deir heels,
An' drawed 'em up to Glory!
UNCLE NED
Jes lay down de shovel an' de hoe.
Jes hang up de fiddle an' de bow.
No more hard work fer ole man Ned,
Fer he's gone whar de good Niggers go.
He didn' have no years fer to hear,
Didn' have no eyes fer to see,
Didn' have no teeth fer to eat corn cake,
An' he had to let de beefsteak be.
Dey called 'im "Ole Uncle Ned,"
A long, long time ago.
Dere wusn't no wool on de top o' his head
In de place whar de wool oughter grow.
When ole man Ned wus dead,
Mosser's tears run down lak rain;
But ole Miss, she wus a liddle sorter glad,
Dat she wouldn' see de ole Nigger 'gain.
THE MASTER'S "STOLEN" COAT
Ole Mosser bought a brand new coat,
He hung it on de wall.
Dat Nigger [20]stole dat coat away,
An' wore it to de Ball.
His head look lak a Coffee pot,
His nose look lak de spout,
His mouf look lak de fier place,
Wid de ashes all tuck out.
His face look lak a skillet lid,
His years lak two big kites.
His eyes look lak two big biled aigs,
Wid de yallers in de whites.
His body 'us lak a stuffed toad frog,
His foot look lak a board.
Oh-oh! He thinks he is so fine,
But he's greener dan a gourd.
[20] Stole, here, means taken temporarily with intention to return.
[21]I WOULDN'T MARRY A YELLOW OR A WHITE NEGRO GIRL
I sho' loves dat gal dat dey calls Sally [22]"Black,"
An' I sorter loves some of de res';
I first loves de gals fer lovin' me,
Den I loves myse'f de bes'.
I wouldn' marry dat yaller Nigger gal,
An' I'll tell you de reason why:
Her neck's drawed out so stringy an' long,
I'se afeared she 'ould never die.
I wouldn' marry dat White Nigger gal,
(Fer gracious sakes!) dis is why:
Her nose look lak a kittle spout;
An' her skin, it hain't never dry.
[21] For discussion see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.
[22] "Black" here is not the real name. This name is applied because of
the complexion of the girls to whom it was sung.
DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS
Don't ax me no questions,
An' I won't tell you no lies;
But bring me dem apples,
An' I'll make you some pies.
An' if you ax questions,
'Bout my havin' de flour;
I fergits to use 'lasses
An' de pie'll be all sour.
Dem apples jes wa'k here;
An' dem 'lasses, dey run.
Hain't no place lak my house
Found un'er de sun.
THE OLD SECTION BOSS
I once knowed an ole Sexion Boss but he done been laid low.
I once knowed an ole Sexion Boss but he done been laid low.
He "Caame frum gude ole Ireland some fawhrty year ago."
W'en I ax 'im fer a job, he say: "Nayger, w'at can yer do?"
W'en I ax 'im fer a job, he say: "Nayger, w'at can yer do?"
"I can line de track; tote de jack, de pick an' shovel too."
Says he: "Nayger, de railroad's done, an' de chyars is on de track,"
Says he: "Nayger, de railroad's done, an' de chyars is on de track,"
"Transportation brung yer here, but yō' money'll take yer back."
I went down to de Deepo, an' my ticket I shō' did draw.
I went down to de Deepo, an' my ticket I shō' did draw.
To take me over dat ole Iron Mountain to de State o' Arkansaw.
As I went sailin' down de road, I met my mudder-in-law.
I wus so tired an' hongry, man, dat I couldn' wuk my jaw.
Fer I hadn't had no decent grub since I lef' ole Arkansaw.
Her bread wus hard corndodgers; dat meat, I couldn' chaw.
Her bread wus hard corndodgers; dat meat, I couldn' chaw.
You see; dat's de way de Hoosiers feeds way out in Arkansaw.
THE NEGRO AND THE POLICEMAN
"Oh Mistah Policeman, tu'n me loose;
Hain't got no money but a good excuse."
Oh hello, Sarah Jane!
Dat ole Policeman treat me mean,
He make me wa'k to Bowlin' Green.
Oh hello, Sarah Jane!
De way he treat me wus a shame.
He make me wear dat Ball an' Chain.
Oh hello, Sarah Jane!
I runs to de river, I can't git 'cross;
Dat Police grab me an' swim lak a hoss.
Oh hello, Sarah Jane!
I goes up town to git me a gun,
Dat ole Police shō' make me run.
Oh hello, Sarah Jane!
I goes crosstown sorter walkin' wid a hump
An' dat ole Police shō' make me jump.
Oh hello, Sarah Jane!
Sarah Jane, is dat yō' name?
Us boys, we calls you Sarah Jane.
Well, hello, Sarah Jane!
HAM BEATS ALL MEAT
Dem white folks set up in a Dinin' Room
An' dey charve dat mutton an' lam'.
De Nigger, he set 'hind de kitchen door,
An' he eat up de good sweet ham.
Dem white folks, dey set up an' look so fine,
An' dey eats dat ole cow meat;
But de Nigger grin an' he don't say much,
Still he know how to git what's sweet.
Deir ginger cakes taste right good sometimes,
An' deir Cobblers an' deir jam.
But fer every day an' Sunday too,
Jest gimme de good sweet ham.
Ham beats all meat,
Always good an' sweet.
Ham beats all meat,
I'se always ready to eat.
You can bake it, bile it, fry it, stew it,
An' still it's de good sweet ham.
SUZE ANN
Yes: I loves dat gal wid a blue dress on,
Dat de white folks calls Suze Ann.
She's jes' dat gal what stole my heart,
'Way down in Alabam'.
But: She loves a Nigger about nineteen,
Wid his lips all painted red;
Wid a liddle fuz around his mouf;
An' no brains in his head.
Now: Looky, looky Eas'! Oh, looky, looky Wes'!
I'se been down to ole Lou'zan';
Still dat ar gal I loves de bes'
Is de gal what's named Suze Ann.
Oh, head 'er! Head 'er! Ketch 'er!
Jump up an' [23]"Jubal Jew."
Fer de Banger Picker's sayin':
He hain't got nothin' to do.
[23] Jubal Jew is a kind of dance step.
WALK TOM WILSON
Ole Tom Wilson, he had 'im a hoss;
His legs so long he couldn' git 'em 'cross.
He laid up dar lak a bag o' meal,
An' he spur him in de flank wid his toenail heel.
Ole Tom Wilson, he come an' he go,
Frum cabin to cabin in de county-o.
W'en he go to bed, his legs hang do'n,
An' his foots makes poles fer de chickens t' roost on.
Tom went down to de river, an' he couldn' go 'cross.
Tom tromp on a 'gater an' 'e think 'e wus a hoss.
Wid a mouf wide open, 'gater jump from de san',
An' dat Nigger look clean down to de Promus' Lan'.
Wa'k Tom Wilson, git out'n de way!
Wa'k Tom Wilson, don't wait all de day!
Wa'k Tom Wilson, here afternoon;
Sweep dat kitchen wid a bran' new broom.
CHICKEN PIE
If you wants to make an ole Nigger feel good,
Let me tell you w'at to do:
Jes take off a chicken from dat chicken roost,
An' take 'im along wid you.
Take a liddle dough to roll 'im up in,
An' it'll make you wink yō' eye;
Wen dat good smell gits up yō' nose,
Frum dat home-made chicken pie.
Jes go round w'en de night's sorter dark,
An' dem chickens, dey can't see.
Be shore dat de bad dog's all tied up,
Den slip right close to de tree.
Now retch out yō' han' an' pull 'im in,
Den run lak a William goat;
An' if he holler, squeeze 'is neck,
An' shove 'im un'er yō' coat.
Bake dat Chicken pie!
It's mighty hard to wait
When you see dat Chicken pie,
Hot, smokin' on de plate.
Bake dat Chicken pie!
Yes, put in lots o' spice.
Oh, how I hopes to Goodness
Dat I gits de bigges' slice.
I AM NOT GOING TO HOBO ANY MORE
My mammy done tol' me a long time ago
To always try fer to be a good boy;
To lay on my pallet an' to waller on de flō';
An' to never leave my daddy's house.
I hain't never gwineter hobo no mō'. By George!
I hain't never gwineter hobo no mō'.
Yes, befō' I'd live dat ar hobo life,
I'll tell you what I'd jes go an' do:
I'd court dat pretty gal an' take 'er fer my wife,
Den jes lay 'side dat ar hobo life.
I hain't never gwineter hobo no mō'. By George!
I hain't never gwineter hobo no mō'.
FORTY-FOUR
If de people'll jes gimme
Des a liddle bit o' peace,
I'll tell 'em what happen
To de Chief o' Perlice.
He met a robber
Right at de dō'!
An' de robber, he shot 'im
Wid a forty-fō'!
He shot dat Perliceman.
He shot 'im shō'!
What did he shoot 'im wid?
A forty-fō'.
Dey sent fer de Doctah
An' de Doctah he come.
He come in a hurry,
He come in a run.
He come wid his instriments
Right in his han',
To progue an' find
Dat forty-fō', Man!
De Doctah he progued;
He progued 'im shō'!
But he jes couldn' find
Dat forty-fō'.
Dey sent fer de Preachah,
An' de preachah he come.
He come in a walk,
An' he come in to talk.
He come wid 'is Bible,
Right in 'is han',
An' he read from dat chapter,
Forty-fō', Man!
Dat Preachah, he read.
He read, I know.
What Chapter did he read frum?
'Twus Forty-fō'!
PLAY RHYME SECTION
BLINDFOLD PLAY CHANT
Oh blin' man! Oh blin' man!
You cain't never see.
Just tu'n 'round three times
You cain't ketch me.
Oh tu'n Eas'! Oh tu'n Wes'!
Ketch us if you can.
Did you thought dat you'd cotch us,
Mistah blin' man?
FOX AND GEESE PLAY
[24](Fox _Call_) "Fox in de mawnin'!"
(Goose _Sponse_) "Goose in de evenin'!"
(Fox _Call_) "How many geese you got?"
(Goose _Sponse_) "More 'an you're able to ketch!"
[24] For explanation of "call," and "sponse," see Study in Negro Folk
Rhymes.
HAWK AND CHICKENS PLAY
[25](Chicken's _Call_) "Chickamee, chickamee, cranie-crow."
I went to de well to wash my toe.
W'en I come back, my chicken wus gone.
W'at time, ole Witch?
(Hawk _Sponse_) "One"
(Hawk _Call_) "I wants a chick."
(Chicken's _Sponse_) "Well, you cain't git mine."
(Hawk _Call_) "I shall have a chick!"
(Chicken's _Sponse_) "You shan't have a chick!"
[25] For explanation of "call," and "sponse," see Study in Negro Folk
Rhymes.
CAUGHT BY THE WITCH PLAY
(Human _Call_) "Molly, Molly, Molly-bright!"
(Witch _Sponse_) "Three scō' an' ten!"
(Human _Call_) "Can we git dar 'fore candle-light?"
(Witch _Sponse_) "Yes, if yō' legs is long an' light."
(Conscience's Warning _Call_) "You'd better watch out,
Or de witches'll git yer!"
[26]GOOSIE-GANDER PLAY RHYME
"Goosie, goosie, goosie-gander!
What d'you say?"--"Say: 'Goose!'"--
"Ve'y well, go right along, Honey!
I tu'ns yō' years a-loose."
"Goosie, goosie, goosie-gander!
What d'you say?"--"Say: 'Gander'"
"Ve'y well. Come in de ring, Honey!
I'll pull yō' years way yander!"
[26] For explanation read the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.
HAWK AND BUZZARD
Once: De Hawk an' de buzzard went to roost,
An' de hawk got up wid a broke off tooth.
Den: De hawk an' de buzzard went to law,
An' de hawk come back wid a broke up jaw.
But lastly: Dat buzzard tried to plead his case,
Den he went home wid a smashed in face.
LIKES AND DISLIKES
I sho' loves Miss Donie! Oh, yes, I do!
She's neat in de waist,
Lak a needle in de case;
An' she suits my taste.
I'se gwineter run wid Mollie Roalin'! Oh, yes, I will!
She's pretty an' nice
Lak a bottle full o' spice,
But she's done drap me twice.
I don't lak Miss Jane! Oh no, I don't.
She's fat an' stout,
Got her mouf sticked out,
An' she laks to pout.
SUSIE GIRL
Ring 'round, Miss Susie gal,
Ring 'round, "My Dovie."
Ring 'round, Miss Susie gal.
Bless you! "My Lovie."
Back 'way, Miss Susie gal.
Back 'way, "My Money."
Now come back, Miss Susie gal.
Dat's right! "My Honey."
Swing me, Miss Susie gal.
Swing me, "My Starlin'."
Jes swing me, my Susie gal.
Yes "Love!" "My Darlin'."
SUSAN JANE
I know somebody's got my Lover;
Susan Jane! Susan Jane!
Oh, cain't you tell me; help me find 'er?
Susan Jane! Susan Jane!
If I lives to see nex' Fall;
Susan Jane! Susan Jane!
I hain't gwineter sow no wheat at all.
Susan Jane! Susan Jane!
'Way down yon'er in de middle o' de branch;
Susan Jane! Susan Jane!
De ole cow pat an' de buzzards dance.
Susan Jane! Susan Jane!
PEEP SQUIRREL
Peep squir'l, ying-ding-did-lum;
Peep squir'l, it's almos' day,
Look squir'l, ying-ding-did-lum,
Look squir'l, an' run away.
Walk squir'l, ying-ding-did-lum;
Walk squir'l, fer dat's de way.
Skip squir'l, ying-ding-did-lum;
Skip squir'l, all dress in gray.
Run squir'l! Ying-ding-did-lum!
Run squir'l! Oh, run away!
I cotch you squir'l! Ying-ding-did-lum!
I cotch you squir'l! Now stay, I say.
DID YOU FEED MY COW?
"Did yer feed my cow?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Will yer tell me how?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Oh, w'at did yer give 'er?" "Cawn an' hay."
"Oh, w'at did yer give 'er?" "Cawn an' hay."
"Did yer milk 'er good?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Did yer do lak yer should?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Oh, how did yer milk 'er?" "Swish! Swish! Swish!"
"Oh, how did yer milk 'er?" "Swish! Swish! Swish!"
"Did dat cow git sick?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Wus she kivered wid tick?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Oh, how wus she sick?" "All bloated up."
"Oh, how wus she sick?" "All bloated up."
"Did dat cow die?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Wid a pain in 'er eye?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Oh, how did she die?" "Uh-! Uh-! Uh-!"
"Oh, how did she die?" "Uh-! Uh-! Uh-!"
"Did de Buzzards come?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Fer to pick 'er bone?" "Yes, Mam!"
"Oh, how did they come?" "Flop! Flop! Flop!"
"Oh, how did they come?" "Flop! Flop! Flop!"
A BUDGET
If I lives to see nex' Spring
I'se gwineter buy my wife a big gold ring.
If I lives to see nex' Fall,
I'se gwinter buy my wife a waterfall.
"When Christmas comes?" You cunnin' elf!
I'se gwineter spen' my money on myself.
THE OLD BLACK GNATS
Dem ole black gnats, dey is so bad
I cain't git out'n here.
Dey stings, an' bites, an' runs me mad;
I cain't git out'n here.
Dem ole black gnats dey sings de song,
"You cain't git out'n here.
Ole Satan'll git you befō' long;
You cain't git out'n here."
Dey burns my years, gits in my eye;
An' I cain't git out'n here.
Dey makes me dance, dey makes me cry;
An' I cain't git out'n here.
I fans an' knocks but dey won't go 'way!
I cain't git out'n here.
Dey makes me wish 'twus Jedgment Day;
Fer I cain't git out'n here.
SUGAR LOAF TEA
Bring through yō' [27]Sugar-lō'-tea, bring through yō' [27]Candy,
All I want is to wheel, an' tu'n, an' bow to my Love so handy.
You tu'n here on Sugar-lō'-tea, I'll tu'n there on Candy.
All I want is to wheel, an' tu'n, an' bow to my Love so handy.
Some gits drunk on Sugar-lō'-tea, some gits drunk on Candy,
But all I wants is to wheel, an' tu'n, an' bow to my Love so handy.
[27] Nicknames applied in imagination to the women engaged in playing in
the Play Song.
GREEN OAK TREE! ROCKY'O
Green oak tree! Rocky'o! Green oak tree! Rocky'o!
Call dat one you loves, who it may be,
To come an' set by de side o' me.
"Will you hug 'im once an' kiss 'im twice?"
"W'y! I wouldn' kiss 'im once fer to save 'is life!"
Green oak tree! Rocky'o! Green oak tree! Rocky'o!
KISSING SONG
A sleish o' bread an' butter fried,
Is good enough fer yō' sweet Bride.
Now choose yō' Lover, w'ile we sing,
An' call 'er nex' onto de ring.
"Oh my Love, how I loves you!
Nothin' 's in dis worl' above you.
Dis right han', fersake it never.
Dis heart, you mus' keep forever.
One sweet kiss, I now takes from you;
Caze I'se gwine away to leave you."
KNEEL ON THIS CARPET
Jes choose yō' Eas'; jes choose yō' Wes'.
Now choose de one you loves de bes'.
If she hain't here to take 'er part
Choose some one else wid all yō' heart.
Down on dis chyarpet you mus' kneel,
Shore as de grass grows in de fiel'.
Salute yō' Bride, an' kiss her sweet,
An' den rise up upon yō' feet.
SALT RISING BREAD
I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
Put on dat skillet, nev' mind de lead;
Caze I'se gwineter cook dat saltin' bread;
Yes, ever since my mammy's been dead,
I'se been makin' an' cookin' dat saltin' bread.
I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
You loves biscuit, butter, an' fat?
I can dance Shiloh better 'an dat.
Does you turn 'round an' shake yō' head?--
Well; I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
W'en you ax yō' mammy fer butter an' bread,
She don't give nothin' but a stick across yō' head.
On cracklin's, you say, you wants to git fed?
Well, I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
PRECIOUS THINGS
Hol' my rooster, hōl' my hen,
Pray don't tetch my [28]Gooshen Ben'.
Hol' my bonnet, hōl' my shawl,
Pray don't tetch my waterfall.
Hōl' my han's by de finger tips,
But pray don't tetch my sweet liddle lips.
[28] Grecian Bend.
HE LOVES SUGAR AND TEA
Mistah Buster, he loves sugar an' tea.
Mistah Buster, he loves candy.
Mistah Buster, he's a Jim-dandy!
He can swing dem gals so handy.
Charlie's up an' Charlie's down.
Charlie's fine an' dandy.
Ev'ry time he goes to town,
He gits dem gals stick candy.
Dat Niggah, he love sugar an' tea.
Dat Niggah love dat candy.
Fine Niggah! He can wheel 'em 'round,
An' swing dem ladies handy.
Mistah Sambo, he love sugar an' tea.
Mistah Sambo love his candy.
Mistah Sambo; he's dat han'some man
What goes wid sister Mandy.
HERE COMES A YOUNG MAN COURTING
Here comes a young man a courtin'! Courtin'! Courtin'!
Here comes a young man a-courtin'! It's Tidlum Tidelum Day.
"Say! Won't you have one o' us? Us, Sir? Us, Sir?
Say! Won't you have one o' us, Sir?" dem brown skin ladies say.
"You is too black an' rusty! Rusty! Rusty!
You is too black an' rusty!" said Tidlum Tidelum Day.
"We hain't no blacker 'an you, Sir! You, Sir! You, Sir!
We hain't no blacker 'an you, Sir!" dem brown skin ladies say.
"Pray! Won't you have one o' us, Sir? Us, Sir? Us, Sir?
Pray! Won't you have one o' us, Sir?" say yaller gals all gay.
"You is too ragged an' dirty! Dirty! Dirty!
You is too ragged an' dirty!" said Tidlum Tidelum Day.
"You shore is got de bighead! Bighead! Bighead!
You shore is got de bighead! You needn' come dis way.
We's good enough fer you, Sir! You, Sir! You, Sir!
We's good enough fer you, Sir!" dem yaller gals all say.
"De fairest one dat I can see, dat I can see, dat I can see,
De fairest one dat I can see," said Tidlum Tidelum Day.
"My Lulu, come an' wa'k wid me, wa'k wid me, wa'k wid me.
My Lulu, come an' wa'k wid me. 'Miss Tidlum Tidelum Day.'"
ANCHOR LINE
I'se gwine out on de Anchor Line, Dinah!
I won't git back 'fore de summer time, Dinah!
W'en I come back be "dead in line,"
I'se gwineter bring you a dollar an' a dime,
Shore as I gits in from de Anchor Line, Dinah!
If you loves me lak I loves you, Dinah!
No Coon can cut our love in two, Dinah!
If you'll jes come an' go wid me,
Come go wid me to Tennessee,
Come go wid me; I'll set you free,--Dinah!
SALLIE
Sallie! Sallie! don't you want to marry?
Sallie! Sallie! do come an' tarry!
Sallie! Sallie! Mammy says to tell her when.
Sallie! Sallie! She's gwineter kill dat turkey hen!
Sallie! Sallie! When you goes to marry,
(Sallie! Sallie!) Marry a fahmin man(!)
(Sallie! Sallie!) Ev'ry day'll be Mond'y,
(Sallie! Sallie!) Wid a hoe-handle in yō' han'!
[29]SONG TO THE RUNAWAY SLAVE
Go 'way from dat window, "My Honey, My Love!"
Go 'way from dat window! I say.
De baby's in de bed, an' his mammy's lyin' by,
But you cain't git yō' lodgin' here.
Go 'way from dat window, "My Honey, My Love!"
Go 'way from dat window! I say;
Fer ole Mosser's got 'is gun, an' to Miss'ip' youse been sōl';
So you cain't git yō' lodgin' here.
Go 'way from dat window, "My Honey, My Love!"
Go 'way from dat window! I say.
De baby keeps a-cryin'; but you'd better un'erstan'
Dat you cain't git yō' lodgin' here.
Go 'way from dat window, "My Honey, My Love!"
Go 'way from dat window! I say;
Fer de Devil's in dat man, an' you'd better un'erstan'
Dat you cain't git yō' lodgin' here.
[29] The story went among Negroes that a runaway slave husband returned
every night, and knocked on the window of his wife's cabin to get food.
Other slaves having betrayed the secret that he was still in the
vicinity, he was sold in the woods to a slave trader at reduced price.
This trader was to come next day with bloodhounds to hunt him down. On
the night after the sale, when the runaway slave husband knocked, the
slave wife pinched their baby to make it cry. Then she sang the above
song (as if singing to the baby), so that he might, if possible, effect
his escape.
DOWN IN THE LONESOME GARDEN
Hain't no use to weep, hain't no use to moan;
Down in a lonesome gyardin.
You cain't git no meat widout pickin' up a bone,
Down in a lonesome gyardin.
Look at dat gal! How she puts on airs,
Down in de lonesome gyardin!
But whar did she git dem closes she w'ars,
Down in de lonesome gyardin?
It hain't gwineter rain, an' it hain't gwineter snow;
Down in my lonesome gyardin.
You hain't gwinter eat in my kitchen doo',
Nor down in my lonesome gyardin.
LITTLE SISTER, WON'T YOU MARRY ME?
Liddle sistah in de barn, jine de weddin'.
Youse de sweetest liddle couple dat I ever did see.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'round me!
Say, liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
Oh step back, gal, an' don't you come a nigh me,
Wid all dem sassy words dat you say to me.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'roun' me!
Oh liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
RAISE A "RUCUS" TO-NIGHT
Two liddle Niggers all dressed in white,
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
Want to go to Heaben on de tail of a kite.
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
De kite string broke; dem Niggers fell;
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
Whar dem Niggers go, I hain't gwineter tell.
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
A Nigger an' a w'ite man a playin' seben up;
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
De Nigger beat de w'ite man, but 'ē's skeered to pick it up.
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
Dat Nigger grabbed de money, an' de w'ite man fell.
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
How de Nigger run, I'se not gwineter tell.
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
Look here, Nigger! Let me tell you a naked fac';
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
You mought a been cullud widout bein' dat black;
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
Dem 'ar feet look lak youse shō' walkin' back;
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
An' yō' ha'r, it look lak a chyarpet tack.
(Raise a rucus to-night.)
Oh come 'long, chilluns, come 'long,
W'ile dat moon are shinin' bright.
Let's git on board, an' float down de river,
An' raise dat rucus to-night.
SWEET PINKS AND ROSES
Sweet pinks an' roses, strawbeers on de vines,
Call in de one you loves, an' kiss 'er if you minds.
Here sets a pretty gal,
Here sets a pretty boy;
Cheeks painted rosy, an' deir eyes battin' black.
You kiss dat pretty gal, an' I'll stan' back.
PASTIME RHYME SECTION
SATAN
De Lawd made man, an' de man made money.
De Lawd made de bees, an' de bees made honey.
De Lawd made ole Satan, an' ole Satan he make sin.
Den de Lawd, He make a liddle hole to put ole Satan in.
Did you ever see de Devil, wid his iron handled shovel,
A scrapin' up de san' in his ole tin pan?
He cuts up mighty funny, he steals all yō' money,
He blinds you wid his san'. He's tryin' to git you, man!
JOHNNY BIGFOOT
Johnny, Johnny Bigfoot!
Want a pair o' shoes?
Go kick two cows out'n deir skins.
Run Brudder, tell de news!
THE THRIFTY SLAVE
Jes wuk all day,
Den go huntin' in de wood.
Ef you cain't ketch nothin',
Den you hain't no good.
Don't look at Mosser's chickens,
Caze dey're roostin' high.
Big pig, liddle pig, root hog or die!
WILD NEGRO BILL
I'se wild Nigger Bill
Frum Redpepper Hill.
I never did wo'k, an' I never will.
I'se done killed de Boss.
I'se knocked down de hoss.
I eats up raw goose widout apple sauce!
I'se Run-a-way Bill,
I knows dey mought kill;
But ole Mosser hain't cotch me, an' he never will!
YOU LOVE YOUR GIRL
You loves yō' gal?
Well, I loves mine.
Yō' gal hain't common?
Well, my gal's fine.
I loves my gal,
She hain't no goose--
Blacker 'an blackberries,
Sweeter 'an juice.
FRIGHTENED AWAY FROM A CHICKEN-ROOST
I went down to de hen house on my knees,
An' I thought I heared dat chicken sneeze.
You'd oughter seed dis Nigger a-gittin' 'way frum dere,
But 'twusn't nothin' but a rooster sayin' his prayer.
How I wish dat rooster's prayer would en',
Den perhaps I mought eat dat ole gray hen.
BEDBUG
De June-bug's got de golden wing,
De Lightning-bug de flame;
De Bedbug's got no wing at all,
But he gits dar jes de same.
De Punkin-bug's got a punkin smell,
De Squash-bug smells de wust;
But de puffume of dat ole Bedbug,
It's enough to make you bust.
Wen dat Bedbug come down to my house,
I wants my walkin' cane.
Go git a pot an' scald 'im hot!
Good-by, Miss Lize Jane!
HOW TO GET TO GLORY LAND
If you wants to git to Glory Land,
I'll tell you what to do:
Jes grease yō' heels wid mutton sue,
W'en de Devil's atter you.
Jes grease yō' heel an' grease yō' han',
An' slip 'way--over into Glory Lan'.
DESTITUTE FORMER SLAVE OWNERS
Missus an' Mosser a-walkin' de street,
Deir han's in deir pockets an' nothin' to eat.
She'd better be home a-washin' up de dishes,
An' a-cleanin' up de ole man's raggitty britches.
He'd better run 'long an' git out de hoes
An' clear out his own crooked weedy corn rows;
De Kingdom is come, de Niggers is free.
Hain't no Nigger slaves in de Year Jubilee.
FATTENING FROGS FOR SNAKES
You needn' sen' my gal hoss apples
You needn' sen' her 'lasses candy;
She would keer fer de lak o' you,
Ef you'd sen' her apple brandy.
W'y don't you git some common sense?
Jes git a liddle! Oh fer land sakes!
Quit yō' foolin', she hain't studyin' you!
Youse jes fattenin' frogs fer snakes!
THE MULE'S KICK
Is dis me, or not me,
Or is de Devil got me?
Wus dat a muskit shot me?
Is I laid here more'n a week?--
Dat ole mule do kick amazin',
An' I 'spec's he's now a-grazin'
On de t'other side de creek.
CHRISTMAS TURKEY
I prayed to de Lawd fer tucky-o.
Dat tucky wouldn' come.
I prayed, an' I prayed 'til I'se almos' daid.
No tucky at my home.
Chrismus Day, she almos' here;
My wife, she mighty mad.
She want dat tucky mo' an' mo'.
An' she want 'im mighty bad.
I prayed 'til de scales come on my knees,
An' still no tucky come.
I tuck myse'f to my tucky roos',
An' I brung my tucky home.
A FULL POCKETBOOK
De goose at de barn, he feel mighty funny,
Caze de duck find a pocketbook chug full o' money.
De goose say: "Whar is you gwine, my Sonny?"
An' de duck, he say: "Now good-by, Honey."
De duck chaw terbacker an' de goose drink wine,
Wid a stuffed pocketbook dey shō' had a good time;
De grasshopper played de fiddle on a punkin vine
'Till dey all fall over on a sorter dead line.
NO ROOM TO POKE FUN
Nev' mīn' if my nose are flat,
An' my face are black an' sooty;
De Jaybird hain't so big in song,
An' de Bullfrog hain't no beauty.
CROOKED NOSE JANE
I courted a gal down de lane.
Her name, it wus Crooked Nose Jane.
Her face wus white speckled, her lips wus all red,
An' she look jes as lean as a weasel half-fed.
BAD FEATURES
Blue gums an' black eyes;
Run 'round an' tell lies.
Liddle head, liddle wit;
Big long head, not a bit.
Wid his long crooked toes,
An' his heel right roun';
Dat flat-footed Nigger
Make a hole in de groun'.
MISS SLIPPY SLOPPY
Ole Miss Slippy Sloppy jump up out'n bed,
Den out'n de winder she poke 'er nappy head,
"Jack! O Jack! De gray goose's dead.
Dat fox done gone an' bit off 'er head!"
Jack run up de hill an' he call Mosser's hounds;
An' w'en dat fox hear dem turble sounds,
He sw'ar by his head an' his hide all 'round,
Dat he don't want no dinner, but a hole in de ground.
HOW TO MAKE IT RAIN
Go kill dat snake an' hang him high,
Den tu'n his belly to de sky.
De storm an' rain'll come bye an' bye.
A WIND-BAG
A nigger come a-struttin' up to me las' night;
In his han' wus a walkin' cane,
He tipped his hat an' give a low bow;
"Howdy-doo! Miss Lize Jane!"
But I didn' ax him how he done,
Which make a hint good pinned,
Dat I'd druther have a paper bag,
When it's sumpin' to be filled up wid wind.
GOING TO BE GOOD SLAVES
Ole Mosser an' Missus has gone down to town,
Dey said dey'd git us somethin' an' dat hain't no jokes.
I'se gwineter be good all de whilst dey're all 'way,
An' I'se gwineter wear stockin's jes lak de white folks.
[30]PAGE'S GEESE
Ole man Page'll be in a turble rage,
W'en he find out, it'll raise his dander.
Yankee soldiers bought his geese, fer one cent a-piece,
An' sent de pay home by de gander.
[30] The Northern soldiers during the Civil War took all of a Southern
planter's geese except one lone gander. They put one penny, for each
goose taken, into a small bag and tied this bag around the gander's
neck. They then sent him home to his owner with the pay of one penny for
each goose taken. The Negroes of the community at once made up this
little song.
TO WIN A YELLOW GIRL
If you wants to win a yaller gal,
I tell you what you do;
You "borrow" Mosser's Beaver hat,
An' slip on his Long-tailed Blue.
SEX LAUGH
You'se heared a many a gal laugh,
An' say: "He! He-he! He-he-he!"
But you hain't heared no boy laugh,
An' say: "She! She-she! She-she-she!"
OUTRUNNING THE DEVIL
I went upon de mountain,
An' I seed de Devil comin'.
I retched an' got my hat an' coat,
An' I beat de Devil runnin'.
As I run'd down across de fiel',
A rattlesnake bit me on de heel.
I rears an' pitches an' does my bes',
An' I falls right back in a hornet's nes'.
For w'en I wus a sinnah man,
I rund by leaps an' boun's.
I wus afeard de Devil 'ould ketch me
Wid his ole three legged houn's.
But now I'se come a Christun,
I kneels right down an' prays,
An' den de Devil runs from me--
I'se tried dem other ways.
HOW TO KEEP OR KILL THE DEVIL
If you wants to see de Devil smile,
Simpully do lak his own chile.
If you wants to see de Devil git spunk,
Swallow whisky, an' git drunk.
If you wants to see de Devil live,
Cuss an' swar an' never give.
If you wants to see de Devil run,
Jes tu'n a loose de Gospel gun.
If you wants to see de Devil fall,
Hit him wid de Gospel ball.
If you wants to see de Devil beg,
Nail him wid a Gospel peg.
If you wants to see de Devil sick,
Beat him wid a Gospel stick.
If you wants to see de Devil die,
Feed him up on Gospel pie.
But de Devil w'ars dat iron shoe,
An' if you don't watch, he'll slip it on you.
JOHN HENRY
John Henry, he wus a steel-drivin' man.
He died wid his hammer in his han'.
O come long boys, an' line up de track,
For John Henry, he hain't never comin' back.
John Henry said to his Cappun: "Boss,
A man hain't nothin' but a man,
An' 'fore I'll be beat in dis sexion gang,
I'll die wid a hammer in my han'."
John Henry, he had a liddle boy,
He helt 'im in de pam of his han';
An' de las' word he say to dat chile wus:
"I wants you to be my steel-drivin' man."
John Henry, he had a pretty liddle wife,
An' her name, it wus Polly Ann.
She walk down de track, widout lookin' back,
For to see her big fine steel-drivin' man.
John Henry had dat pretty liddle wife,
An' she went all dress up in red.
She walk ev'y day down de railroad track
To de place whar her steel-drivin' man fell dead.
[31]THE NASHVILLE LADIES
Dem Nashville ladies dress up fine.
Got longpail hoopskirts hanging down behīn'!
Got deir bonnets to deir shoulders an' deir noses in de sky!
Big pig! Liddle pig! Root hog, or die!
[31] The name of the place was used where the rhyme was repeated.
THE RASCAL
I'se de bigges' rascal fer my age.
I now speaks from dis public stage.
I'se stole a cow; I'se stole a calf,
An' dat hain't more 'an jes 'bout half.
Yes, Mosser!--Lover of my soul!--
"How many chickens has I stole?"
Well; three las' night, an' two night befo';
An' I'se gwine 'fore long to git four mō'.
But you see dat hones' Billy Ben,
He done e't more dan erry three men.
He e't a ham, den e't a side;
He would a e't mō', but you know he died.
COFFEE GROWS ON WHITE FOLKS' TREES
Coffee grows on w'ite folks' trees,
But de Nigger can git dat w'en he please.
De w'ite folks loves deir milk an' brandy,
But dat black gal's sweeter dan 'lasses candy.
Coffee grows on w'ite folks trees,
An' dere's a river dat runs wid milk an' brandy.
De rocks is broke an' filled wid gold,
So dat yaller gal loves dat high-hat dandy.
AUNT JEMIMA
Ole Aunt Jemima grow so tall,
Dat she couldn' see de groun'.
She stumped her toe, an' down she fell
From de Blackwoods clean to town.
W'en Aunt Jemima git in town,
An' see dem "tony" ways,
She natchully faint an' back she fell
To de Backwoods whar she stays.
THE MULE'S NATURE
If you sees a mule tied up to a tree,
You mought pull his tail an' think about me.
For if a Nigger don't know de natcher of a mule,
It makes no diffunce what 'comes of a fool.
I'M A "ROUND-TOWN" GENTLEMAN
I hain't no wagon, hain't no dray,
Jes come to town wid a load o' hay.
I hain't no cornfield to go to bed
Wid a lot o' hay-seeds in my head.
I'se a "round-town" Gent an' I don't choose
To wuk in de mud, an' do widout shoes.
THIS SUN IS HOT
Dis sun are hot,
Dis hoe are heavy,
Dis grass grow furder dan I can reach;
An' as I looks
At dis Cotton fiel',
I thinks I mus' 'a' been called to preach.
UNCLE JERRY FANTS
Has you heared 'bout Uncle Jerry Fants?
He's got on some cu'ious shapes.
He's de one what w'ars dem white duck pants,
An' he sot down on a bunch o' grapes.
KEPT BUSY
Jes as soon as de sun go down,
My True-love's on my min'.
An' jes as soon as de daylight breaks
De white folks is got me a gwine.
She's de sweetes' thing in town;
An' when I sees dat Nig,
She make my heart go "pitty-pat,"
An' my head go "whirly-gig."
CROSSING A FOOT-LOG
Me an' my wife an' my bobtail dog
Start 'cross de creek on a hick'ry log.
We all fall in an' git good wet,
But I helt to my liddle brown jug, you bet!
WATERMELON PREFERRED
Dat hambone an' chicken are sweet.
Dat 'possum meat are sholy fine.
But give me,--now don't you cheat!--
(Oh, I jes wish you would give me!)
Dat watermillion, smilin' on de vine.
"THEY STEAL" GOSSIP
_You know:_
Some folks say dat a Nigger won't steal,
But Mosser cotch six in a watermillion fiel';
A-cuttin', an' a-pluggin' an' a-tearin' up de vines,
A-eatin' all de watermillions, an' a-stackin' up de rinds.
_Uh-huh! Yes, I heared dat:_
Ole Mosser stole a middlin' o' meat,
Ole Missus stole a ham;
Dey sent 'em bofe to de Wuk-house,
An' dey had to leave de land.
FOX AND RABBIT DRINKING PROPOSITIONS
Fox on de low ground,
Rabbit on de hill.
Says he: "I'll take a drink,
An' leave you a gill."
De fox say: "Honey,
(You sweet liddle elf!)
Jes hand me down de whole cup;
I wants it fer myself."
A TURKEY FUNERAL
Dis tucky once on earth did dwell;
An' "Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!"
But now he gives me bigges' joy,
An' rests from all his trouble.
Yes, now he's happy, so am I;
No hankerin' fer a feas':
Because I'se stuffed wid tucky meat,
An' he struts in tucky peace.
OUR OLD MULE
We had an ole mule an' he wouldn' go "gee";
So I knocked 'im down wid a single-tree.
To daddy dis wus some mighty bad news,
So he made me jump up an' outrun de Jews.
THE COLLEGE OX
Ole Ox! Ole Ox! How'd you come up here?
You'se shō' plowed de cotton fields for many a, many a year.
You'se been kicked an' cuffed about wid heaps an' heaps abuse.
Now! Now, you comes up here fer some sort o' College use.
CARE IN BREAD-MAKING
W'en you sees dat gal o' mine,
Jes tell 'er fer me, if you please,
Nex' time she goes to make up bread
To roll up 'er dirty sleeves.
WHY LOOK AT ME?
What's you lookin' at me fer?
I didn' come here to stay.
I wants dis bug put in yō' years,
An' den I'se gwine away.
I'se got milk up in my bucket,
I'se got butter up in my bowl;
But I hain't got no Sweetheart
Fer to save my soul.
A SHORT LETTER
She writ me a letter
As long as my eye.
An' she say in dat letter:
"My Honey!--Good-by!"
DOES MONEY TALK?
Dem whitefolks say dat money talk.
If it talk lak dey tell,
Den ev'ry time it come to Sam,
It up an' say: "Farewell!"
I'LL EAT WHEN I'M HUNGRY
I'll eat when I'se hongry,
An' I'll drink when I'se dry;
An' if de whitefolks don't kill me,
I'll live till I die.
In my liddle log cabin,
Ever since I'se been born;
Dere hain't been no nothin'
'Cept dat hard salt parch corn.
But I knows whar's a henhouse,
An' de tucky he charve;
An' if ole Mosser don't kill me,
I cain't never starve.
HEAR-SAY
Hello! Br'er Jack. How do you do?
I'se been a-hearin' a heaps o' things 'bout you.
I'll jes declar! It beats de Dickuns!
Dey's been tryin' to say you's been a-stealin' chickens!
NEGRO SOLDIER'S CIVIL WAR CHANT
Ole [32]Abe (God bless 'is ole soul!)
Got a plenty good victuals, an' a plenty good clo'es.
Got powder, an' shot, an' lead,
To bust in Adam's liddle Confed'
In dese hard times.
Oh, once dere wus union, an' den dere wus peace;
De slave, in de cornfield, bare up to his knees.
But de Rebel's in gray, an' Sesesh's in de way,
An' de slave'll be free
In dese hard times.
[32] Abraham Lincoln.
PARODY ON "NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"
Uh-huh: "Now I lays me down to sleep!"--
While dead oudles o' bedbugs 'round me creep,--
Well: If dey bites me befō' "I" wake,
I hopes "deir" ole jawbones'll break.
I'LL GET YOU, RABBIT!
Rabbit! Rabbit! You'se got a mighty habit,
A-runnin' through de grass,
Eatin' up my cabbages;
But I'll git you shore at las'.
Rabbit! Rabbit! Ole rabbit in de bottoms,
A-playin' in de san',
By to-morrow mornin',
You'll be in my fryin' pan.
THE ELEPHANT
My mammy gimme fifteen cents
Fer to see dat elephan' jump de fence.
He jump so high, I didn' see why,
If she gimme a dollar he mought not cry.
So I axed my mammy to gimme a dollar,
Fer to go an' hear de elephan' holler.
He holler so loud, he skeered de crowd.
Nex' he jump so high, he tetch de sky;
An' he won't git back 'fore de fo'th o' July.
A FEW NEGROES BY STATES
Alabammer Nigger say he love mush.
Tennessee Nigger say: "Good Lawd, hush!"
Fifteen cents in de panel of de fence,
South Ca'lina Nigger hain't got no sense.
Dat Kentucky Nigger jes think he's fine,
'Cause he drink dat Gooseberry wine.
I'se done heared some twenty year ago
Dat de Missippi Nigger hafter sleep on de flō'.
Lousanner Nigger fall out'n de bed,
An' break his head on a pone o' co'n bread.
HOW TO PLEASE A PREACHER
If you wants to see dat Preachah laugh,
Jes change up a dollar, an' give 'im a half.
If you wants to make dat Preachah sing,
Kill dat tucky an' give him a wing.
If you wants to see dat Preachah cry,
Kill dat chicken an' give him a thigh.
LOOKING FOR A FIGHT
I went down town de yudder night,
A-raisin' san' an' a-wantin' a fight.
Had a forty dollar razzer, an' a gatlin' gun,
Fer to shoot dem Niggers down one by one.
I'LL WEAR ME A COTTON DRESS
Oh, will you wear red? Oh, will you wear red?
Oh, will you wear red, Milly Biggers?
"I won't wear red,
It's too much lak Missus' head.
I'll wear me a cotton dress,
Dyed wid copperse an' oak-bark."
Oh, will you wear blue? Oh, will you wear blue?
Oh, will you wear blue, Milly Biggers?
"I won't wear blue,
It's too much lak Missus' shoe.
I'll wear me a cotton dress,
Dyed wid copperse an' oak-bark."
You sholy would wear gray? You sholy would wear gray?
You sholy would wear gray, Milly Biggers?
"I won't wear gray,
It's too much lak Missus' way.
I'll wear me a cotton dress,
Dyed wid copperse an' oak-bark."
Well, will you wear white? Well, will you wear white?
Well, will you wear white, Milly Biggers?
"I won't wear white,
I'd get dirty long 'fore night.
I'll wear me a cotton dress,
Dyed wid copperse an' oak-bark."
Now, will you wear black? Now, will you wear black?
Now, will you wear black, Milly Biggers?
"I mought wear black,
Case it's de color o' my back;
An' it looks lak my cotton dress,
Dyed wid [33]copperse an' oak-bark."
[33] Copperse is copperas, or sulphate of iron.
HALF WAY DOINGS
My dear Brudders an' Sisters,
As I comes here to-day,
I hain't gwineter take no scripture verse
Fer what I'se gwineter say.
My words I'se gwineter cut off short
An' I 'spects to use dis tex':
"Dis half way doin's hain't no 'count
Fer dis worl' nor de nex'."
Dis half way doin's, Brudderin,
Won't never do, I say.
Go to yō' wuk, an' git it done,
An' den's de time to play.
Fer w'en a Nigger gits lazy,
An' stops to take short naps,
De weeds an' grass is shore to grow
An' smudder out his craps.
Dis worl' dat we's a livin' in
Is sumpen lak a cotton row:
Whar each an' ev'ry one o' us
Is got his row to hoe.
An' w'en de cotton's all laid by,
De rain, it spile de bowls,
If you don't keep busy pickin'
In de cotton fiel' of yō' souls.
Keep on a-plowin', an' a-hoein';
Keep on scrapin' off de rows;
An' w'en de year is over
You can pay off all you owes.
But w'en you sees a lazy Nigger
Stop workin', shore's you're born,
You'se gwineter see him comin' out
At de liddle end of de horn.
TWO TIMES ONE
Two times one is two.
Won't you jes keep still till I gits through?
Three times three is nine.
You 'tend to yō' business, an' I'll 'tend to mine.
HE PAID ME SEVEN (PARODY)
"Our Fadder, Which are in Heaben!"--
White man owe me leben and pay me seben.
"D'y Kingdom come! D'y Will be done!"--
An' if I hadn't tuck dat, I wouldn' git none.
PARODY ON "REIGN, MASTER JESUS, REIGN!"
Oh rain! Oh rain! Oh rain, "good" Mosser!
Rain, Mosser, rain! Rain hard!
Rain flour an' lard an' a big hog head
Down in my back yard.
An' w'en you comes down to my cabin,
Come down by de corn fiel'.
If you cain't bring me a piece o' meat,
Den bring me a peck o' meal.
Oh rain! Oh rain! Oh rain, "good" Mosser!
Dat good rain gives mō' rest.
"What d'you say? You Nigger, dar!"--
"Wet ground grows grass best."
A REQUEST TO SELL
Gwineter ax my daddy to sell ole Rose,
So's I can git me some new clō's.
Gwineter ax my daddy to sell ole Nat,
So's I can git a bran' new hat.
Gwineter ax my daddy to sell ole Bruise,
Den I can git some Brogran shoes.
Now, I'se gwineter fix myse'f "jes so,"
An' take myse'f down to Big Shiloh.
I'se gwine right down to Big Shiloh
To take dat t'other Nigger's beau.
WE'LL STICK TO THE HOE
We'll stick to de hoe, till de sun go down.
We'll rise w'en de rooster crow,
An' go to de fiel' whar de sun shine hot,
To de fiel' whar de sugar cane grow.
Yes, Chilluns, we'll all go!
We'll go to de fiel' whar de sun shine hot.
To de fiel' whar de sugar cane grow.
Oh, sing 'long boys, fer de wuk hain't hard!
Oh scrape an' clean up de row.
Fer de grass musn' grow, while de sun shine hot,
In de fiel' whar de sugar cane grow.
No, Chilluns. No, No!
Dat grass musn' grow, while de sun shine hot,
In de fiel' whar de sugar cane grow.
Don't think 'bout de time, fer de time hain't long.
Yō' life soon come an' go;
Den good-bye fiel' whar de sun shine hot,
To de fiel' whar de sugar cane grow.
Yes, Chilluns. We'll all go!
Good-by to de fiel' whar de sun shine hot,
To de fiel' whar de sugar cane grow.
A FINE PLASTER
W'en it's sheep skin an' beeswax,
It shō's a mighty fine plaster:
De mō' you tries to pull it off,
De mō' it sticks de faster.
A DAY'S HAPPINESS
Fust: I went out to milk an' I didn' know how,
I milked dat goat instid o' dat cow;
While a Nigger a-settin' wid a gapin' jaw,
Kept winkin' his eye at a tucky in de straw.
Den: I went out de gate an' I went down de road,
An' I met Miss 'Possum an' I met Mistah Toad;
An' ev'y time Miss 'Possum 'ould sing,
Mistah Toad 'ould cut dat Pigeon's Wing.
But: I went in a whoop, as I went down de road;
I had a bawky team an' a heavy load.
I cracked my whip, an' ole Beck sprung,
An' she busted out my wagin tongue.
Well: Dat night dere 'us a-gittin' up, shores you're born.
De louse go to supper, an' de flea blow de horn.
Dat raccoon paced, an' dat 'possum trot;
Dat ole goose laid, an' de gander sot.
MASTER KILLED A BIG BULL
Mosser killed a big bull,
Missus cooked a dish full,
Didn't give poor Nigger a mouf full.
Humph! Humph!
Mosser killed a fat lam'.
Missus brung a basket,
An' give poor Nigger de haslet.
Eh-eh! Eh-eh!
Mosser killed a fat hog
Missus biled de middlin's,
An' give poor Nigger de chitlin's.
Shō! Shō!
YOU HAD BETTER MIND MASTER
'Way down yon'er in 'Possum Trot,
(In ole Miss'sip' whar de sun shines hot)
Dere hain't no chickens an' de Niggers eats c'on;
You hain't never see'd de lak since youse been bo'n,
You'd better mīn' Mosser an' keep a stiff lip,
So's you won't git sōl' down to ole Miss'sip'.
LOVE RHYME SECTION
PRETTY LITTLE PINK
My pretty liddle Pink,
I once did think,
Dat we-uns shō' would marry;
But I'se done give up,
Hain't got no hope,
I hain't got no time to tarry.
I'll drink coffee dat flows,
From oaks dat grows,
'Long de river dat flows wid brandy.
A BITTER LOVERS' QUARREL--ONE SIDE
You nasty dog! You dirty hog!
You thinks somebody loves you.
I tells you dis to let you know
I thinks myse'f above you.
ROSES RED
Rose's red, vi'lets blue.
Sugar is sweet but not lak you.
De vi'lets fade, de roses fall;
But you gits sweeter, all in all.
As shore as de grass grows 'round de stump,
You is my darlin' Sugar Lump.
W'en de sun don't shine de day is cold,
But my love fer you do not git old.
De ocean's deep, de sky is blue;
Sugar is sweet, an' so is you;
De ocean waves an' de sky gits pale,
But my love are true, an' it never fail.
YOU HAVE MADE ME WEEP
You'se made me weep, you'se made me mourn,
You'se made me tears an' sorrow.
So far' you well, my pretty liddle gal,
I'se gwine away to-morrow.
MOURNING SLAVE FIANCEES
Look down dat lonesome road! Look down!
De way are dark an' cōl'.
Dey makes me weep, dey makes me mourn;
All 'cause my love are sōl'.
O don't you see dat turkle dove,
What mourns from vine to vine?
She mourns lak I moans fer my love,
Lef' many a mile behin'.
DO I LOVE YOU?
Does I love you wid all my heart?--
I loves you wid my liver;
An' if I had you in my mouf,
I'd spit you in de river.
LOVERS' GOOD-NIGHT
Cotton fields white in de bright moonlight,
Now kiss yō' gal' an' say "Good-night."
If she don't kiss you, jes go on 'way;
Hain't no need a-stayin' ontel nex' day.
VINIE
I loves coffee, an' I loves tea.
I axes you, Vinie, does you love me?
My day's study's Vinie, an' my midnight dreams,
My apples, my peaches, my tunnups, an' greens.
Oh, I wants dat good 'possum, an' I wants to be free;
But I don't need no sugar, if Vinie love me.
De river is wide, an' I cain't well step it.
I loves you, dear Vinie; an' you know I cain't he'p it.
Dat sugar is sweet, an' dat butter is greasy;
But I loves you, sweet Vinie; don't be oneasy.
Some loves ten, an' some loves twenty,
But I loves you, Vinie, an' dat is a plenty.
Oh silver, it shine, an' lakwise do tin.
De way I loves Vinie, it mus' be a sin.
Well, de cedar is green, an' so is de pine.
God bless you, Vinie! I wish you 'us mine.
LOVE SONG RHYME SECTION
SHE HUGGED ME AND KISSED ME
I see'd her in de Springtime,
I see'd her in de Fall,
I see'd her in de Cotton patch,
A cameing from de Ball.
She hug me, an' she kiss me,
She wrung my han' an' cried.
She said I wus de sweetes' thing
Dat ever lived or died.
She hug me an' she kiss me.
Oh Heaben! De touch o' her han'!
She said I wus de puttiest thing
In de shape o' mortal man.
I told her dat I love her,
Dat my love wus bed-cord strong;
Den I axed her w'en she'd have me,
An' she jes say "Go long!"
IT IS HARD TO LOVE
It's hard to love, yes, indeed 'tis.
It's hard to be broke up in min'.
You'se all lugged up in some gal's heart,
But you hain't gwineter lug up in mine.
ME AND MY LOVER
Me an' my Lover, we fall out.
How d'you reckon de fuss begun?
She laked licker, an' I laked fun,
An' dat wus de way de fuss begun.
Me an' my Lover, we fall out.
W'at d'you reckon de fuss wus 'bout?
She loved bitters, an' I loved kraut,
An' dat wus w'at de fuss wus 'bout.
Me an' my Lover git clean 'part.
How d'you reckon dat big fuss start?
She's got a gizzard, an' I'se got a heart,
An' dat's de way dat big fuss start.
I WISH I WAS AN APPLE
Oh: I wish I wus an apple,
An' my Sallie wus anudder.
What a pretty match we'd be,
Hangin' on a tree togedder!
But: If I wus an apple,
An' my Sallie wus anudder;
We'd grow up high, close to de sky,
Whar de Niggers couldn' git 'er.
We'd grow up close to de sun
An' smile up dar above;
Den we'd fall down 'way in de groun'
To sleep an' dream 'bout love.
And: W'en we git through a dreamin',
We'd bofe in Heaben wake.
No Nigger shouldn' git my gal
W'en 'is time come to bake.
REJECTED BY ELIZA JANE
W'en I went 'cross de cotton patch
I give my ho'n a blow.
I thought I heared pretty Lizie say:
"Oh, yon'er come my beau!"
So: I axed pretty Lizie to marry me,
An' what d'you reckon she said?
She said she wouldn' marry me,
If ev'ybody else wus dead.
An': As I went up de new cut road,
An' she go down de lane;
Den I thought I heared somebody say:
"Good-bye, ole Lize Jane!"
Well: Jes git 'long, Lizie, my true love.
Git 'long, Miss Lizie Jane.
Perhaps you'll [34]sack "Ole Sour Bill"
An' git choked on "Sugar Cain."
[34] Sack = To reject as a lover.
COURTSHIP RHYME SECTION
ANTEBELLUM COURTSHIP INQUIRY
(He) Is you a flyin' lark or a settin' dove?
(She) I'se a flyin' lark, my honey Love.
(He) Is you a bird o' one fedder, or a bird o' two?
(She) I'se a bird o' one fedder, w'en it comes to you.
(He) Den, Mam:
I has desire, an' quick temptation,
To jine my fence to yō' plantation.
INVITED TO TAKE THE ESCORT'S ARM
Miss, does you lak strawberries?
____*____*____*____*____*____
Den hang on de vine.
____*____*____*____*____*____
Miss, does you lak chicken?
____*____*____*____*____*____
Den have a wing dis time.
SPARKING OR COURTING
I'se heaps older dan three.
I'se heaps thicker dan barks;
An' de older I gits,
De mō' harder I sparks.
I sparks fast an' hard,
For I'se feared I mought fail.
Dough I'se gittin' ole,
I don't co't lak no snail.
A CLANDESTINE LETTER
Kind Miss: If I sent you a letter,
By de crickets,
Through de thickets,
How'd you answer better?
Kind Suh: I'd sen' you a letter,
By de mole,
Not to be tōl';
Fer dat's mō' secretter.
ANTEBELLUM MARRIAGE PROPOSAL
(_A proposal of marriage with the answer deferred_)
(He) De ocean, it's wide; de sea, it's deep.
Yes, in yō' arms I begs to sleep,
Not fer one time, not fer three;
But long as we-uns can agree.
(She) Please gimme time, Suh, to "reponder;"
Please gimme time to "gargalize;"
Den 'haps I'll tu'n to "cattlegog,"
An' answer up 'greeable fer a s'prise.
IF YOU FROWN
If you frowns, an' I frowns,
W'en we goes out togedder;
Den all de t'other folks aroun'
Will say: "De rain is fallin' down
Right in de sunshine wedder!"
"LET'S MARRY" COURTSHIP
(_A proposal of marriage, with a provisional acceptance_)
(He) Oh Miss Lizie, how I loves you!
My life's jes los' if you hain't true.
If you loves me lak I loves you,
No knife cain't cut our love in two.
(She) Grapevine warp, an' cornstalk fillin';
I'll marry you if mammy an' daddy's willin'.
(He) Rabbit hop an' long dog trot!
Let's git married if dey say "not."
COURTSHIP
(_A proposal of marriage with its acceptance_)
Kind Miss: I'se on de stage o' action,
Pleadin' hard fer satisfaction,
Pleadin' 'fore de time-thief late;
Darfore, Ma'm, now, [35]"cravenate."
If I brung to you a gyarment;
To be cut widout scissors,
An' to be sewed widout thread;
How (I ax you) would you make it,
Widout de needle sewin'
An' widout de cloth spread?
Kind Suh: I'd make dat gyarment
Wid love from my heart,
Wid tears on yō' head;
We never would part.
[35] Cravenate = consider.
I WALKED THE ROADS
Well: I walked de roads, till de roads git muddy.
I talked to dat pretty gal, till I couldn' stan' study.
Den: I say: "Love me liddle," I say; "Love me long."
I say: "Let dat liddle be 'doggone' strong!
For, shore as dat rat runs 'cross de rafter,
So shore you'se de gal, you'se de gal I'se after."
PRESENTING A HAT TO PHOEBE
Sister Phoebe: Happy wus we,
W'en we sot under dat Juniper tree.
Take dis hat, it'll keep yō' head warm.
Take dis kiss, it'll do you no harm.
Sister Phoebe: De hours, dey're few;
But dis hat'll say I'se thinkin' 'bout you.
Sugar, it's sugar; an' salt, it's salt;
If you don't love me, it's shō' yō' own fault.
WOOING
W'at is dat a wukin
At yō' han' bill on de wall,
So's yō' sperit, it cain't res',
An' a gemmun's heat, it call?
Is you lookin' fer sweeter berries
Growin' on a higher bush?
An' does my combersation suit?
If not, w'at does you wush?
COURTSHIP SONG RHYME SECTION
THE COURTING BOY
W'en I wus a liddle boy,
Jes fifteen inches high;
De way I court de pretty gals,
It make de ole folks cry.
De geese swim in de middle pon'.
De ducks fly 'cross de clover.
Run an' tell dem pretty gals,
Dat I'se a-comin' over.
Ho! Marindie! Ho!
Ho! Missindie! Ho!
Ho! Malindie! Ho! my gal!
I'se gwine now to see ole Sal.
PRETTY POLLY ANN
I'se gwineter marry, if I can.
I'se gwineter marry pretty Polly Ann.
I axed Polly Ann, fer to marry me.
She say she's a-lookin' fer a Nigger dat's free.
Pretty Polly Ann's jes dressed so fine!
I'll bet five dollars she hain't got a dime.
Pretty Polly Ann's jes a-puttin' on airs,
She won't notice me, but nobody cares.
I'll drop Polly Ann, a-lookin' lak a crane;
I 'spec's I'll marry Miss Lize Jane.
MARRIAGE RHYME SECTION
SLAVE MARRIAGE CEREMONY SUPPLEMENT
Dark an' stormy may come de wedder;
I jines dis he-male an' dis she-male togedder.
Let none, but Him dat makes de thunder,
Put dis he-male an' dis she-male asunder.
I darfore 'nounce you bofe de same.
Be good, go 'long, an' keep up yō' name.
De broomstick's jumped, de worl's not wide.
She's now yō' own. Salute yō' bride!
MARRIED LIFE RHYME SECTION
THE NEWLY WEDS
First Mont': "Set down in my cabin, Honey!"
Nex' Mont': "Stan' up, my Pie."
Third Mont': "You go to wuk, you Wench!
You well to wuk as I!"
WHEN I GO TO MARRY
W'en I goes to marry,
I wants a gal wid money.
I wants a pretty black-eyed gal
To kiss an' call me "Honey."
Well, w'en I goes to marry,
I don't wanter git no riches.
I wants a man 'bout four foot high,
So's I can w'ar de britches.
BOUGHT ME A WIFE
Bought me a wife an' de wife please me,
I feeds my wife un'er yon'er tree.
My wife go: "Row-row!"
My guinea go: "Potrack! Potrack!"
My chicken go: "Gymsack! Gymsack!"
My duck go: "Quack-quack! Quack-quack!"
My dog go: "Bow-bow!"
My hoss go: "Whee-whee! Whee-whee!"
My cat go: "Fiddle-toe! Fiddle-toe!"
WHEN I WAS A "ROUSTABOUT"
W'en I wus a "Roustabout," wild an' young,
I co'ted my gal wid a mighty slick tongue.
I tōl' her some oncommon lies dere an' den.
I tōl' her dat we'd marry, but I didn' say w'en.
So on a Mond'y mornin' I tuck her fer my wife.
Of co'se I wus 'spectin' an agreeable life.
But on a Chuesd'y mornin' she chuned up her pipe,
An' she 'bused me more 'an I'd been 'bused all my life.
On a Wednesd'y evenin', as I come 'long home,
I says to myse'f dat she wus all my own;
An' on a Thursd'y night I went out to de woods,
An' I cut me two big fine tough leatherwoods.
So on a Frid'y mornin' w'en she roll me 'er eyes,
I retched fer my leatherwoods to give 'er a s'prise,
Dem long keen leatherwoods wuked mighty well,
An' 'er tongue, it jes rattle lak a clapper in a bell.
On a Sadd'y mornin' she sleep sorter late;
An' de las' time I see'd her, she 'us gwine out de gate.
I wus feedin' at de stable, lookin' out through a crack,
An' she lef' my log cabin 'fore I could git back.
On a Sund'y mornin', as I laid on my bed,
I didn' have no Nigger wife to bother my head.
Now whisky an' brandy jug's my biges' bes' friend,
An' my long week's wuk is about at its end.
MY FIRST AND MY SECOND WIFE
My fust liddle wife wus short an' fat.
Her face wus as black as my ole hat,
Her nose all flat, an' her eyes sunk in,
An' dat lip hang down below her chin.
Now wusn't I sorrowful in mind?
W'en I went down to dat wife's brother;
He said: "She 'us tired. Gwineter marry 'nother."
If I ever ketches dat city Coon,
He railly mought see my razzer soon.
Den I 'spec's he'd be troubled in mind!
My nex' wife hug an' kiss me,
She call me "Sugar Plum!"
She throw her arms 'round me,
Lak a grapevine 'round de gum!
Wusn't dat glory to my soul!
Her cheeks, dey're lak de cherry;
Dat Cherry, it's lak de rose.
Wid a liddle dimple in her chin,
An' a liddle tu'ned up nose!
Oh, hain't I happy in mind!
I'se got you, Lou, now fer my wife.
Keep new Coons 'way, "My Pie!"
Caze, if you don't, I tells you now,
Dat we all three mought die.
Den we'd be troubled in min'!
GOOD-BY, WIFE!
I had a liddle wife,
An' I didn' want to kill 'er;
So I tuck 'er by de heels,
An' I throwed 'er in de river.
"Good-by, Wife! Good-by, Honey!
Hadn' been fer you,
I'd a had a liddle money."
My liddle fussy wife
Up an' say she mus' have scissors;
An' druther dan to fight,
I'd a throwed 'er in three rivers.
But she crossed dem fingers, w'en she go down,
An' a liddle bit later
She walk out on de groun'.
NURSERY RHYME SECTION
[36]AWFUL HARBINGERS
W'en de big owl whoops,
An' de screech owl screeks,
An' de win' makes a howlin' sound;
You liddle wooly heads
Had better kiver up,
Caze de "hants" is comin' 'round.
[36] This little rhyme is based upon a superstition once current among
Negroes, to the effect that bad luck would come when a screech owl
called near your home at night unless, upon hearing him, you would stick
the handle of a shovel into the fire about which you were sitting, or
would throw salt into it. The word "hant" means ghost or spirit.
THE LAST OF JACK
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Jack;
He run forty mile 'fore he look back.
W'en he look back, he fall in a crack;
W'en he fall in a crack, he break 'is back;
An' dat wus de las' o' poor liddle Jack.
LITTLE DOGS
I had a liddle dog; his name wus Ball;
W'en I give him a liddle, he want it all.
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Trot;
He helt up his tail, all tied in a knot.
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Blue;
I put him on de road, an' he almos' flew.
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Mack;
I rid his tail fer to save his back.
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Rover;
W'en he died, he died all over.
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Dan;
An' w'en he died, I buried 'im in de san'.
MY DOG, CUFF
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Cuff;
I sent 'im to town to buy some snuff.
He drapped de bale, an' he spilt de snuff,
An' I guess dat speech is long enough.
SAM IS A CLEVER FELLOW
Say! Is yō' peaches ripe, my boy,
An' is yō' apples meller?
Go an' tell Miss Katie Jones
Dat Sam's a clever feller.
Say! Is yō' cherries red, my boy,
An' is yō' plums all yeller?
Oh please run tell Miss Katie Jones
Dat Sam's a clever feller.
THE GREAT OWL'S SONG
Ah-hoo-hoo? Ah-hoo-hoo? Ah-hoo-hoo----?
An' who'll cook fer Kelline, an' who'll cook fer you----?
I will cook fer myse'f, I won't cook fer you.
Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo----!
Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo----!
I wonder if Kelline would not cook fer Hue----?
Fer dis is Big Sandy! It's Big Sandy Hue----!
Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo----!
Ah-ha-hah! Ah-ha-hah! Ah-ha-hah! Ah-hah----!
I thought you 'us ole Bill Jack as black as de tah.
You really must 'scuse me, my "Honey Lump Pa."
Ah-ha-hah! Ah-ha-hah! Ah-ha-hah! Ah-hah----!
An' since I'se been Kelline, an' you'se Big Sandy Hue;
I will cook fer myse'f, an' I will cook fer you.
I'll love you forever, an' sing in de dew:
"Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo----!"
Yes!--Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-hoo! Ah-hoo-all!
Now, we'll cook fer ourse'fs, but who'll cook fer you all?
Fer Tom Dick an' his wife, fer Pete Snap an' Shoe-Awl,
Rough Shot De Shoe-boot, an' de Lawd He knows who all?
HERE I STAND
Here I stan', raggity an' dirty;
If you don't come kiss me, I'll run lak a tucky.
Here I stan' on two liddle chips,
Pray, come kiss my sweet liddle lips.
Here I stan' crooked lak a horn;
I hain't had no kiss since I'se been born.
PIG TAIL
Run boys, run!
De pig tail's done.
If you don't come quick,
You won't git none.
Pig ham's dere,
Lakwise middlin's square;
But dese great big parts
Hain't no Nigger's bes' fare.
A, B, C
A, B, C,
Doubled down D;
I'se so lazy you cain't see me.
A, B, C,
Doubled down D
Lazy Chilluns gits hick'ry tea.
A, B, C,
Doubled down D,
Dat "cat's" in de cupboard an' hid. You see?
A, B, C,
Doubled down D,
You'd better come out an' wuk lak me.
NEGRO BAKER MAN
Patty cake! Patty cake! Nigger Baker man.
Missus an' Mosser gwineter ketch 'im if dey can.
Put de liddle Nigger in Mosser's dish pan,
An' scrub 'im off good fer de ole San' Man.
STICK-A-MA-STEW
Stick-a-ma-stew, he went to town.
Stick-a-ma-stew, he tore 'is gown.
All dem folks what live in town
Cain't mend dat randsome, handsome gown.
BOB-WHITE'S SONG
Bob-white! Bob-white!
Is yō' peas all ripe?
No--! not--! quite!
Bob-white! Bob-white!
W'en will dey be ripe?
To-mor--! row--! might!
Bob-white! Bob-white!
Does you sing at night?
No--! not--! quite!
Bob-white! Bob-white!
W'en is de time right?
At can--! dle--! light!
COOKING DINNER
Go: Bile dem cabbage down.
Turn dat hoecake 'round,
Cook it done an' brown.
Yes: Gwineter have sweet taters too.
Hain't had none since las' Fall,
Gwineter eat 'em skins an' all.
CHUCK WILL'S WIDOW SONG
Oh nimber, nimber Will-o!
My crooked, crooked bill-o!
I'se settin' down right now, on
de sweet pertater hill-o.
Oh nimber, nimber Will-o!
My crooked, crooked bill-o!
Two liddle naked babies, my two
brown aigs now fill-o.
Oh nimber, nimber Will-o!
My crooked, crooked bill-o!
Don't hurt de liddle babies; dey
is too sweet to kill-o.
BRIDLE UP A RAT
Bridle up er rat,
Saddle up er cat,
An' han' me down my big straw hat.
In come de cat,
Out go de rat,
Down go de baby wid 'is big straw hat.
MY LITTLE PIG
You see: I had a liddle pig,
I fed 'im on slop;
He got so fat
Dat he almos' pop.
An' den: I tuck de liddle pig,
An' I rid 'im to school;
He e't ginger cake,
An' it tu'n 'im a fool.
But: He grunt de lessons,
An' keep all de rule,
An' he make 'em all think
Dat he learn in de cool.
IN A MULBERRY TREE
Jes looky, looky yonder; w'at I see!
Two liddle Niggers in a Mulberry tree.
One cain't read, an' de t'other cain't write.
But dey bofe can smoke deir daddy's pipe.
"One ma two! One ma two!"
Dat Mulberry Witch, he [37]titterer too.
"Big bait o' Mulberries make 'em bofe sick.
Dem liddle Niggers gwineter roll an' kick!"
[37] Titterer means laugh.
ANIMAL ATTIRE
Dat Coon, he w'ar a undershirt;
Dat 'Possum w'ar a gown.
Br'er Rabbit, he w'ar a overcoat
Wid buttons up an' down.
Mistah Gobbler's got beads 'roun' 'is nec'.
Mistah Pattridge's got a collar, Hun!
Mistah Peacock, a fedder on his head!
But dese don't stop no gun.
ASPIRATION
If I wus de President
Of dese United States,
I'd eat good 'lasses candy,
An' swing on all de gates.
ANIMAL FAIR
Has you ever hearn tell 'bout de Animal Fair?
Dem birds an' beasts wus all down dere.
Dat jaybird a-settin' down on 'is wing!
Has you ever hearn tell about sitch a thing
As whut 'us at dat Animal Fair?
Well, dem animals had a Fair.
Dem birds an' beasts wus dere.
De big Baboon,
By de light o' de moon,
Jes comb up his sandy hair.
De monkey, he git drunk,
He kick up a red hot chunk.
Dem coals, dey 'rose;
An' bu'nt 'is toes!
He clumb de Elephan's trunk.
I went down to de Fair.
Dem varmints all wus dere.
Dat young Baboon
Wunk at Miss Coon;
Dat curled de Elephan's hair.
De Camel den walk 'bout,
An' tromped on de Elephan's snout.
De Elephan' sneeze,
An' fall on his knees;
Dat pleased all dem monkēys.
LITTLE BOY WHO COULDN'T COUNT SEVEN
Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count one.
Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought it great big fun.
Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count two.
Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought 'e 'us gwine through.
Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count three.
Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought de Niggers 'us free.
Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count fō'.
Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e jumped out on de flō'.
Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count five.
Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought de dead alive.
Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count six.
Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e never did git fix!
Once der wus a liddle boy dat couldn' count seben.
Dey pitched him in a fedder bed; 'e thought he's gwine to Heaben!
MISS TERRAPIN AND MISS TOAD
As I went marchin' down de road,
I met Miss Tearpin an' I met Miss Toad.
An' ev'ry time Miss Toad would jump,
Miss Tearpin would peep from 'hind de stump.
I axed dem ladies fer to marry me,
An' bofe find fault wid de t'other, you see.
"If you marries Miss Toad," Miss Tearpin said,
"You'll have to hop 'round lak you'se been half dead!"
"If you combs yō' head wid a Tearpin comb,
You'll have to creep 'round all tied up at home."
I run'd away frum dar, my foot got bruise,
For I didn't know zackly which to choose.
FROM SLAVERY
Chile: I come from out'n slavery,
Whar de Bull-whup bust de hide;
Back dar, whar dis gineration
Natchully widdered up an' died!
THE END OF TEN LITTLE NEGROES
Ten liddle Niggers, a-eatin', fat an' fine;
One choke hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' nine.
Nine liddle Niggers, dey sot up too late;
One sleep hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' eight.
Eight liddle Niggers want to go to Heaben;
One sing hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' seben.
Seben liddle Niggers, a-pickin' up sticks;
One wuk hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' six.
Six liddle Niggers went out fer to drive;
Mule run away wid one, an' dat lef' five.
Five liddle Niggers in a cold rain pour;
One coughed hisse'f to death, an' dat lef' four.
Four liddle Niggers, climb a' apple tree;
One fall down an' out, an' dat lef' three.
Three liddle Niggers a-wantin' sumpin new;
One, he quit de udders, an' dat lef' two.
Two liddle Niggers went out fer to run;
One fell down de bluff, an' dat lef' one.
One liddle Nigger, a-foolin' wid a gun;
Gun go off "bang!" an' dat lef' none.
THE ALABAMA WAY
'Way down yon'er "in de Alerbamer way,"
De Niggers goes to wo'k at de peep o' de day.
De bed's too short, an' de high posts rear;
De Niggers needs a ladder fer to climb up dere.
De cord's wore out, an' de bed-tick's gone.
Niggers' legs hang down fer de chickens t' roost on.
MOTHER SAYS I AM SIX YEARS OLD
My mammy says dat I'se too young
To go to Church an' pray;
But she don't know how bad I is
W'en she's been gone away.
My mammy says I'se six years old,
My daddy says I'se seben.
Dat's all right how old I is,
Jes since I'se a gwine to Heaben.
THE ORIGIN OF THE SNAKE
Up de hill an' down de level!
Up de hill an' down de level!
Granny's puppy treed de Devil.
Puppy howl, an' Devil shake!
Puppy howl, an' Devil shake!
Devil leave, an' dere's yō' snake.
Mash his head; de sun shine bright!
Mash his head; de sun shine bright!
Tail don't die ontel it's night.
Night come on, an' sperits groan!
Night come on, an' sperits groan!
Devil come an' gits his own.
WILD HOG HUNT
Nigger in de woods, a-settin' on a log;
Wid his finger on de trigger, an' his eyes upon de hog.
De gun say "bam!" an' de hog say "bip!"
An' de Nigger grab dat wild hog wid all his grip.
A STRANGE BROOD
De ole hen sot on tucky aigs,
An' she hatch out goslin's three.
Two wus tuckies wid slender legs,
An' one wus a bumblebee.
All dem hens say to one nudder:
"Mighty queer chickens! See?"
THE TOWN AND THE COUNTRY BIRD
Jaybird a-swingin' a two hoss plow;
"Sparrer, why not you?"
"W'y--! My legs so liddle an' slender, man,
I'se fear'd dey'd break in two."
Jaybird answer: "What'd you say?--
I sometimes worms terbaccy;
But I'd druther plow sweet taters too,
Dan to be a ole Town Tacky!"
Jaybird up in de Sugar tree,
De sparrer on de groun';
De jaybird shake de sugar down,
An' de sparrer pass it 'roun'.
De jaybird say: "Save some fer me;
I needs it w'en I bakes."
De sparrer say: "Use 'lasses, Suh!
Dat suits fer Country-Jakes!"
FROG IN A MILL ([38]GUINEA OR EBO RHYME)
Once dere wus er frog dat lived in er mill.
He had er raker don la bottom o' la kimebo
Kimebo, nayro, dilldo, kiro
Stimstam, formididdle, all-a-board la rake;
Wid er raker don la bottom o' la kimebo.
[38] For explanation, read the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.
STRONG HANDS
Here's yō' bread, an' here's yō' butter;
An' here's de hands fer to make you sputter.
Tetch dese hands, w'en you wants to tetch a beaver.
If dese hands tetch you, you'll shō' ketch de fever.
Dese hands Samson, good fer a row,
W'en dey hits you, it's "good-by cow!"
TREE FROGS (GUINEA OR EBO RHYME)
Shool! Shool! Shool! I rule!
Shool! Shool! Shool! I rule!
Shool! Shacker-rack!
I shool bubba cool.
Seller! Beller eel!
Fust to ma tree'l
Just came er bubba.
Buska! Buska-reel!
WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY
W'en I wus a liddle boy
I cleaned up mammy's dishes;
Now I is a great big boy,
I wears my daddy's britches.
I can knock dat Mobile Buck
An' smoke dat corncob pipe.
I can kiss dem pretty gals,
An' set up ev'ry night.
GRASSHOPPER SENSE
Dere wus a liddle grasshopper
Dat wus always on de jump;
An' caze he never look ahead,
He wus always gittin' a bump.
Huddlety, dumpty, dumpty, dump!
Mind out, or you will git a bump;
Shore as de grass grows 'round de stump
Be keerful, my sweet Sugar Lump.
YOUNG MASTER AND OLD MASTER
Hick'ry leaves an' calico sleeves!
I tells you young Mosser's hard to please.
Young Mosser fool you, de way he grin.
De way he whup you is a sin.
De monkey's a-settin' on de end of a rail,
Pickin' his tooth wid de end of his tail.
Mulberry leaves an' homespun sleeves!
Better know dat ole Mosser's not easy to please.
MY SPECKLED HEN
Somebody stole my speckled hen.
Dey lef' me mighty pōo'.
Ev'ry day she layed three aigs,
An' Sunday she lay fō'.
Somebody stole my speckled hen.
She crowed at my back dō'.
Fedders, dey shine jes lak de sun;
De Niggers grudged her mō'.
[39]De whis'lin' gal, an' de crowin' hen,
Never comes to no good en'.
Stop dat whis'lin'; go on an' sing!
'Member dat hen wid 'er shinin' wing.
[39] An old superstition.
THE SNAIL'S REPLY
Snail! Snail! Come out'n o' yō' shell,
Or I'll beat on yō' back till you rings lak a bell.
"I do ve'y well," sayed de snail in de shell,
"I'll jes take my chances in here whar I dwell."
A STRANGE FAMILY
Once dere's an ole 'oman dat lived in de Wes'.
She had two gals of de very bes'.
One wus older dan de t'other,
T'other's older dan her mother,
An' dey're all deir own gran'mother.
Can you guess?
GOOD-BY, RING
I had a liddle dog, his name wus Ring,
I tied him up to his nose wid a string.
I pulled dat string, an' his eyes tu'n blue.
"Good-by, Ring! I'se done wid you."
DEEDLE, DUMPLING
Deedle, deedle, dumplin'! My boy, Pete!
He went to bed wid his dirty feet.
Mammy laid a switch down on dat sheet!
Deedle, deedle, dumplin'! My boy, Pete!
BUCK AND BERRY
Buck an' Berry run a race,
Buck fall down an' skin his face.
Buck an' Berry in a stall;
Buck, he try to eat it all.
Buck, he e't too much, you see.
So he died wid choleree.
PRETTY LITTLE GIRL
Who's been here since I'se been gone?
A pretty liddle gal wid a blue dress on.
Who'll stay here when I goes 'way?
A pretty liddle gal, all dressed in gray.
Who'll wait on Mistess day an' night?
A pretty liddle gal, all dressed in white.
Who'll be here when I'se been dead?
A pretty liddle gal, all dressed in red.
TWO SICK NEGRO BOYS
Two liddle Niggers sick in bed,
One jumped up an' bumped his head.
W'en de Doctah come he simpully said:
"Jes feed dat boy on shorten' bread."
T'other liddle Nigger sick in bed,
W'en he hear tell o' shorten' bread,
Popped up all well. He dance an' sing!
He almos' cut dat Pigeon's Wing!
GRASSHOPPER SITTING ON A SWEET POTATO VINE
Grasshopper a-settin' on a sweet tater vine,
'Long come a Blackbird an' nab him up behind.
Blackbird a-settin' in a sour apple tree;
Hawk grab him up behind; he "Chee! Chee! Chee!"
Big hawk a-settin' in de top of dat oak,
Start to eat dat Blackbird an' he git choke.
DOODLE-BUG
Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come git sweet milk.
Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come git butter.
Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come git co'n bread.
Doodle-bug! Doodle-bug! Come on to Supper.
[40]RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES
Don't talk! Go to sleep!
Eyes shet an' don't you peep!
Keep still, or he jes moans:
"Raw Head an' Bloody Bones!"
[40] Repeated to restless children at night to make them lie still and
go to sleep.
MYSTERIOUS FACE WASHING
I wash my face in de watah
Dat's neider rain nor run.
I wipes my face on de towel
Dat's neider wove nor spun.--
I wash my face in de dew,
An' I dries it in de sun.
GO TO BED
De wood's in de kitchen.
De hoss's in de shed.
You liddle Niggers
Had better go to bed.
[41]BUCK-EYED RABBIT! WHOOPEE!
Dat Squir'l, he's a cunnin' thing;
He tote a bushy tail.
He jes lug off Uncle Sambo's co'n,
An' heart it on a rail.
Dat Squir'l, he's a cunnin' thing;
An' so is ole Jedge B'ar.
Br'er Rabbit's gone an' los' his tail
'Cep' a liddle bunch of ha'r.
Buckeyed Rabbit! Whoopee!
Buckeyed Rabbit! Ho!
Buckeyed Rabbit! Whoopee!
Squir'l's got a long way to go.
[41] The explanation of this rhyme is found in the Study in Negro Folk
Rhymes.
CAPTAIN COON
Captain Coon's a mighty man,
He trabble atter dark;
Wid nothin' 'tall to 'sturb his mind,
But to hear my ole dog bark.
Dat 'Possum, he's a mighty man,
He trabble late at night.
He never think to climb a tree,
'Till he's feared ole Rober'll bite.
GUINEA GALL
'Way down yon'er in Guinea Gall,
De Niggers eats de fat an' all.
'Way down yon'er in de cotton fiel',
Ev'ry week one peck o' meal.
'Way down yon'er ole Mosser swar';
Holler at you, an' pitch, an' r'ar;
Wid cat o' nine tails,
Wid pen o' nine nails,
Tee whing, tee bing,
An' ev'ry thing!
FISHING SIMON
Simon tuck his hook an' pole,
An' fished on Sunday we's been told.
Fish dem water death bells ring,
Talk from out'n de water, sing--
"Bait yō' hook, Simon!
Drap yō' line, Simon!
Now ketch me, Simon!
Pull me out, Simon!
Take me home, Simon!
Now clean me, Simon!
Cut me up now, Simon!
Now salt me, Simon!
Now fry me, Simon!
Dish me up now, Simon!
Eat me all, Simon!"
Simon e't till he wus full.
Still dat fish keep his plate fall.
Simon want no mō' at all,
Fish say dat he mus' eat all.
Simon's sick, so he throw up!
He give Sunday fishin' up.
A STRANGE OLD WOMAN
Dere wus an ole 'oman, her name wus Nan.
She lived an 'oman, an' died a man.
De ole 'oman lived to be dried up an' cunnin';
One leg stood still, while de tother kep' runnin'.
IN '76
Way down yonder in sebenty-six,
Whar I git my jawbone fix;
All dem coon-loons eatin' wid a spoon!
I'll be ready fer dat Great Day soon.
REDHEAD WOODPECKER
Redhead woodpecker: "Chip! Chip! Chee!"
Promise dat he'll marry me.
Whar shall de weddin' supper be?
Down in de lot, in a rotten holler tree.
What will de weddin' supper be?
A liddle green worm an' a bumblebee,
'Way down yonder on de holler tree.
De Redhead woodpecker, "Chip! Chip! Chee!"
OLD AUNT KATE
Jes look at Ole Aunt Kate at de gyardin gate!
She's a good ole 'oman.
W'en she sift 'er meal, she give me de husk;
W'en she cook 'er bread, she give me de crust.
She put de hosses in de stable;
But one jump out, an' skin his nable.
Jes look at Ole Aunt Kate at de gyardin gate!
Still she's always late.
Hurrah fer Ole Aunt Kate by de gyardin gate!
She's a fine ole 'oman.
Git down dat sifter, take down dat tray!
Go 'long, Honey, dere hain't no udder way!
She put on dat hoe cake, she went 'round de house.
She cook dat 'Possum, an' she call 'im a mouse!
Hurrah fer Ole Aunt Kate by de gyardin gate!
She's a fine playmate.
CHILDREN'S SEATING RHYME
You set outside, an' ketch de cow-hide.
I'll set in de middle, an' play de gol' fiddle.
You set 'round about, an' git scrouged out.
MY BABY
I'se de daddy of dis liddle black baby.
He's his mammy's onliest sweetest liddle Coon.
Got de look on de forehead lak his daddy,
Pretty eyes jes as big as de moon.
I'se de daddy of dis liddle black baby.
Yes, his mammy keep de "Sugar" rollin' over.
She feed him wid a tin cup an' a spoon;
An' he kick lak a pony eatin' clover.
A RACE-STARTER'S RHYME
One fer de money!
Two fer de show!
Three to git ready,
An' four fer to go!
NESTING
De jaybird build on a swingin' lim',
De sparrow in de gyardin;
Dat ole gray goose in de panel o' de fence,
An' de gander on de t'other side o' Jordan.
BABY WANTS CHERRIES
De cherries, dey're red; de cherries, dey're ripe;
An' de baby it want one.
De cherries, dey're hard; de cherries, dey're sour;
An' de baby cain't git none.
Jes look at dat bird in de cherry tree!
He's pickin' 'em one by one!
He's shakin' his bill, he's gittin' it fill',
An' down dat th'oat dey run!
Nev' mind! Bye an' bye dat bird's gwineter fly,
An' mammy's gwineter make dat pie.
She'll give you a few, fer de baby cain't chew,
An' de Pickaninny sholy won't cry.
A PRETTY PAIR OF CHICKENS
Dat box-legged rooster, an' dat bow-legged hen
Make a mighty pretty couple, not to be no kin.
Dey's jes lak some Niggers wearin' white folks ole britches,
Dey thinks dey's lookin' fine, w'en dey needs lots of stitches.
TOO MUCH WATERMELON
Dere wus a great big watermillion growin' on de vine.
Dere wus a liddle ugly Nigger watchin' all de time.
An' w'en dat great big watermillion lay ripenin' in de sun,
An' de stripes along its purty skin wus comin' one by one,
Dat ugly Nigger pulled it off an' toted it away,
An' he e't dat great big watermillion all in one single day.
He e't de rinds, an' red meat too, he finish it all trim;
An' den,--dat great big watermillion up an' finish him.
BUTTERFLY
Pretty liddle butterfly, yaller as de gold,
My sweet liddle butterfly, you shō' is mighty bold.
You can dance out in de sun, you can fly up high,
But you know I'se bound to git you, yet, my liddle butterfly.
THE HATED BLACKBIRD AND CROW
Dat Blackbird say unto de Crow:
"Dat's why de white folks hates us so;
For ever since ole Adam wus born,
It's been our rule to gedder green corn."
Dat Blackbird say unto de Crow:
"If you's not black, den I don't know.
White folks calls you black, but I say not;
Caze de kittle musn' talk about de pot."
IN A RUSH
Here I comes jes a-rearin' an' a-pitchin',
I hain't had no kiss since I lef' de ole kitchin.
Candy, dat's sweet; dat's very, very clear;
But a kiss from yō' lips would be sweeter, my dear.
TAKING A WALK
We's a-walkin' in de green grass dust, dust, dust.
We's a-walkin' in de green grass dust.
If you's jes as sweet as I thinks you to be,
I'll take you by yō' liddle hand to walk wid me.
PAYING DEBTS WITH KICKS
I owes yō' daddy a peck o' peas.
I'se gwineter pay it wid my knees.
I owes yō' mammy a pound o' meat;
An' I'se gwineter pay dat wid my feet.
Now, if I owes 'em somethin' mō';
You come right back an' let me know.
Please say to dem ('fore I fergets)
I never fails to pay my debts.
GETTING TEN NEGRO BOYS TOGETHER
One liddle Nigger boy whistle an' stew,
He whistle up anudder Nigger an' dat make two.
Two liddle Nigger boys shuck de apple tree,
Down fall anudder Nigger, an' dat make three.
Three liddle Nigger boys, a-wantin' one more,
Never has no trouble a-gittin' up four.
Four liddle Nigger boys, dey cain't drive.
Dey hire a Nigger hack boy, an' dat make five.
Five liddle Niggers, bein' calcullated men,
Call anudder Nigger 'piece an' dat make ten.
HAWK AND CHICKENS
Hen an' chickens in a fodder stack,
Mighty busy scratchin'.
Hawk settin' off on a swingin' lim',
Ready fer de catchin'.
Hawk come a-whizzin' wid his bitin' mouf,
Couldn' hold hisself in.
Hen, flyin' up, knock his eye clean out;
An' de Jaybird died a-laughin'.
MUD-LOG POND
As I stepped down by de Mud-log pon',
I seed dat bullfrog wid his shoe-boots on.
His eyes wus glass, an' his heels wus brass;
An' I give him a dollar fer to let me pass.
WHAT WILL WE DO FOR BACON?
What will we do fer bacon now?
I'se shot, I'se shot de ole sandy sow!
She jumped de fence an' broke de rail;
An'--"Bam!"--I shot her on de tail.
A LITTLE PICKANINNY
Me an' its mammy is both gwine to town,
To git dis Pickaninny a liddle hat an' gown.
Don't you never let him waller on de flō'!
He's a liddle Pickaninny,
Born in ole Virginy.
Mammy! Don't de baby grow?
Setch a eatin' o' de honey an' a drinkin' o' de wine!
We's gwine down togedder fer to have a good time;
An' we's gwineter eat, an' drink mō' an' mō'.
Oh, sweet liddle [42]Pickaninny,
Born in ole Virginy.
Mammy! How de baby grow!
[42] Pickanniny appears to have been an African word used by the early
American slaves for the word baby.
[43]DON'T SING BEFORE BREAKFAST
Don't sing out 'fore Breakfast,
Don't sing 'fore you eat,
Or you'll cry out 'fore midnight,
You'll cry 'fore you sleep.
[43] A superstition.
MY FOLKS AND YOUR FOLKS
If you an' yō' folks
Likes me an' my folks,
Lak me an' my folks,
Likes you an' yō' folks;
You's never seed folks,
Since folks 'as been folks,
Like you an' yō' folks,
Lak me an' my folks.
LITTLE SLEEPING NEGROES
One liddle Nigger a-lyin' in de bed;
His eyes shet an' still, lak he been dead.
Two liddle Niggers a-lyin' in de bed;
A-snorin' an' a-dreamin' of a table spread.
Three liddle Niggers a-lyin' in de bed;
Deir heels cracked open lak shorten' bread.
Four liddle Niggers a-lyin' in de bed;
Dey'd better hop out, if dey wants to git fed!
MAMMA'S DARLING
Wid flowers on my shoulders,
An' wid slippers on my feet;
I'se my mammy's darlin'.
Don't you think I'se sweet?
I wish I had a fourpence,
Den I mought use a dime.
I wish I had a Sweetheart,
To kiss me all de time.
I has apples on de table,
An' I has peaches on de shelf;
But I wish I had a husband--
I'se so tired stayin' to myself.
STEALING A RIDE
Two liddle Nigger boys as black as tar,
Tryin' to go to Heaben on a railroad chyar.
Off fall Nigger boys on a cross-tie!
Dey's gwineter git to Heaben shore bye-an'-bye.
WASHING MAMMA'S DISHES
When I wus a liddle boy
A-washin' my mammy's dishes,
I rund my finger down my th'oat
An' pulled out two big fishes!
When I wus a liddle boy
A-wipin' my mammy's dishes,
I sticked my finger in my eye
An' I shō' seed liddle fishes.
De big fish swallowed dem all up!
It put me jes a-thinkin'.
All dem things looks awful cu'ous!
I wonder wus I drinkin'?
WILLIE WEE
Willie, Willie, Willie Wee!
One, two, three.
If you wanna kiss a pretty gal,
Come kiss me.
ONE NEGRO THEME SUNG WITH "FROG WENT A-COURTING"
[music]
FROG WENT A-COURTING
De frog went a-co'tin', he did ride. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De frog went a-co'tin', he did ride
Wid a sword an' a pistol by 'is side. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
He rid up to Miss Mousie's dō'. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
He rid up to Miss Mousie's dō',
Whar he'd of'en been befō. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Says he: "Miss Mousie, is you in?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Says he: "Miss Mousie, is you in?"
"Oh yes, Sugar Lump! I kyard an' spin." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
He tuck dat Mousie on his knee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
He tuck dat Mousie on his knee,
An' he say: "Dear Honey, marry me!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"Oh Suh!" she say, "I cain't do dat." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"Oh Suh!" she say, "I cain't do dat,
Widout de sayso o' uncle Rat." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dat ole gray Rat, he soon come home. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dat ole gray Rat, he soon come home,
Sayin': "Whose been here since I'se been gone?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"A fine young gemmun fer to see." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"A fine young gemmun fer to see,
An' one dat axed fer to marry me." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dat Rat jes laugh to split his side. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dat Rat jes laugh to split his side.
"Jes think o' Mousie's bein' a bride!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Nex' day, dat rat went down to town. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Nex' day dat rat went down to town,
To git up de Mousie's Weddin' gown. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"What's de bes' thing fer de Weddin' gown?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"What's de bes' thing fer de Weddin' gown?"--
"Dat acorn hull, all gray an' brown!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"Whar shall de Weddin' Infar' be?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"Whar shall de Weddin' Infar' be?"--
"Down in de swamp in a holler tree." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"What shall de Weddin' Infar' be?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"What shall de Weddin' Infar' be?"--
"Two brown beans an' a blackeyed pea." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Fust to come in wus de Bumblebee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Fust to come in wus de Bumblebee.
Wid a fiddle an' bow across his knee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' dat come wus Khyernel Wren. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' dat come wus Khyernel Wren,
An' he dance a reel wid de Turkey Hen. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' dat come wus Mistah Snake. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' dat come wus Mistah Snake,
He swallowed de whole weddin' cake! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' come in wus Cap'n Flea. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' come in wus Cap'n Flea,
An' he dance a jig fer de Bumblebee. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
An' now come in ole Giner'l Louse. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
An' now come in ole Giner'l Louse.
He dance a breakdown 'round de house. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' to come wus Major Tick. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
De nex' to come wus Major Tick,
An' he e't so much it make 'im sick. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dey sent fer Mistah Doctah Fly. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dey sent fer Mistah Doctah Fly.
Says he: "Major Tick, you's boun' to die." Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Oh, den crep' in ole Mistah Cat. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Oh, den crep' in ole Mistah Cat,
An' chilluns, dey all hollered, "Scat!!" Uh-huh!!! Uh-huh!!!
It give dat frog a turble fright. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
It give dat frog a turble fright,
An' he up an' say to dem, "Good-night!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dat frog, he swum de lake aroun'. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Dat frog, he swum de lake aroun',
An' a big black duck come gobble 'im down. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"What d'you say 'us Miss Mousie's lot?" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
"What d'you say 'us Miss Mousie's lot?"--
"W'y--, she got swallered on de spot!" Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Now, I don't know no mō' 'an dat. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Now, I don't know no mō' 'an dat.
If you gits mō' you can take my hat. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
An' if you thinks dat hat won't do. Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
An' if you thinks dat hat won't do,
Den you mought take my head 'long, too. Uh-huh!!! Uh-huh!!!
SHOO! SHOO!
Shoo! Shoo!
What'll I do?
Run three mile an' buckle my shoe?
No! No!
I'se gwineter go,
An' kill dat chicken on my flō'.
Oh! My!
Chicken pie!
Sen' fer de Doctah, I mought die.
Christmus here,
Once a year.
Pass dat cider an' 'simmon beer.
FLAP-JACKS
I loves my wife, an' I loves my baby:
An' I loves dem flap-jacks a-floatin' in gravy.
You play dem chyards, an' make two passes:
While I eats dem flap-jacks a-floatin' in 'lasses.
Now: in come a Nigger an' in come a bear,
In come a Nigger dat hain't got no hair.
Good-by, Nigger, go right on back,
Fer I hain't gwineter give you no flap-jack.
TEACHING TABLE MANNERS
Now whilst we's here 'round de table,
All you young ones git right still.
I wants to l'arn you some good manners,
So's you'll think o' Uncle Bill.
Cose we's gwineter 'scuse Merlindy,
Caze she's jes a baby yit.
But it's time you udder young ones
Wus a-l'arnin' a liddle bit.
I can 'member as a youngster,
Lak you youngsters is to-day;
How my mammy l'arnt me manners
In a 'culiar kind o' way.
One o' mammy's ole time 'quaintance.
(Ole Aunt Donie wus her name)
Come one night to see my mammy.
Mammy co'se 'pared fer de same.
Mammy got de sifter, Honey;
An' she tuck an' make up dough,
Which she tu'n into hot biscuits.
Den we all git smart, you know.
'Zerves an' biscuits on de table!
Honey, noways could I wait.
Ole Aunt Donie wus a good ole 'oman,
An' I jes had to pass my plate.
I soon swallered down dem biscuit,
E't 'em faster dan a shoat.
Dey wus a liddle tough an' knotty,
But I chawed 'em lak a goat.
"Pass de biscuits, please, Mam!
Please, Mam, fer I wants some mō'."
Lawd! You'd oughter seed my mammy
Frownin' up, jes "sorter so."
"Won't you pass de biscuit, please, Mam?"
I said wid a liddle fear.
Dere wus not but one mō' lef', Sir.
Mammy riz up out'n her chear.
W'en Aunt Donie lef' our house, Suh,
Mammy come lak bees an' ants,
Put my head down 'twixt her knees, Suh,
Almos' roll me out'n my pants.
She had a great big tough hick'ry,
An' it help till it convince.
Frum dat day clean down to dis one,
I'se had manners ev'r since.
MISS BLODGER
De rats an' de mice, dey rund up stairs,
Fer to hear Miss Blodger say her prayers.
Now here I stan's 'fore Miss Blodger.
She 'spects to hit me, but I'se gwineter dodge her.
THE LITTLE NEGRO FLY
Dere's a liddle Nigger fly
Got a pretty liddle eye;
But he don't know 'is A, B, C's.
He up an' crawl de book,
An' he eben 'pears to look;
But he don't know 'is A, B, C's.
DESTINIES OF GOOD AND BAD CHILDREN
One, two, three, fō', five, six, seben;
All de good chilluns goes to Heaben.
All de bad chilluns goes below,
To [44]segashuate wid ole man [45]Joe.
One, two, three, fō', five, six, seben, eight;
All de good chilluns goes in de Pearly Gate.
But all de bad chilluns goes the Broad Road below,
To segashuate wid ole man Joe.
[44] Segashuate means associate with.
[45] Read first stanza of "Sheep Shell Corn," to know of ole man Joe.
BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR LUCK
One time I went a-huntin',
I heared dat 'possum sneeze.
I hollered back to Susan Ann:
"Put on a pot o' peas."
Dat good ole 'lasses candy,
What makes de eyeballs shine,
Wid 'possum peas an' taters,
Is my dish all de time.
[46]Dem black-eyed peas is lucky;
When e't on New Year's day,
You always has sweet taters,
An' 'possum come your way.
[46] This last stanza embodies one of the old superstitions.
[47]PERIWINKLE
Pennywinkle, pennywinkle, poke out yō' ho'n;
An' I'll give you five dollahs an' a bar'l o' co'n.
Pennywinkle! Pennywinkle! Dat gal love me?
Jes stick out yō' ho'n all pinted to a tree.
[47] The Periwinkle seems to have been used as an oracle by some Negroes
in the days of their enslavement.
TRAINING THE BOY
W'en I wus a liddle boy,
Jes thirteen inches high,
I useter climb de table legs,
An' steal off cake an' pie.
Altho' I wus a liddle boy,
An' tho' I wusn't high,
My mammy took dat keen switch down,
An' whupped me till I cry.
Now I is a great big boy,
An' Mammy, she cain't do it;
My daddy gits a great big stick,
An' pulls me right down to it.
Dey say: "No breakin' dishes now;
No stealin' an' no lies."
An' since I is a great big boy,
Dey 'spects me to act wise.
[48]BAT! BAT!
Bat! Bat! Come un'er my hat,
An' I'll give you a slish o' bacon.
But don't bring none yō' ole bedbugs,
If you don't want to git fersaken.
[48] A superstition that it is good luck to catch a bat in one's hat if
he doesn't get bedbugs by so doing.
RANDSOME TANTSOME
Randsome Tantsome!--Gwine to de Fair?
Randsome Tantsome!--W'at you gwineter wear?
"Dem shoes an' stockin's I'se bound to wear!"
Randsome Tantsome a-gwine to de Fair.
ARE YOU CAREFUL?
Is you keerful; w'en you goes down de street,
To see dat yō' cloze looks nice an' neat?
Does you watch yō' liddle step 'long de way,
An' think 'bout dem words dat you say?
RABBIT HASH
Dere wus a big ole rabbit
Dat had a mighty habit
A-settin' in my gyardin,
An' eatin' all my cabbitch.
I hit 'im wid a mallet,
I tapped 'im wid a maul.
Sich anudder rabbit hash,
You's never tasted 'tall.
WHY THE WOODPECKER'S HEAD IS RED
Bill Dillix say to dat woodpecker bird:
"W'at makes yō' topknot red?"
Says he: "I'se picked in de red-hot sun,
Till it's done burnt my head."
BLESSINGS
The chivalry of the Old South rather demanded that all friends should be
invited to partake of the meal, if they chanced to come calling about
the time of the meal hour. This ideal also pervaded the lowly slave
Negro's cabin. In order that this hospitality might not be abused, the
Negroes had a little deterrent story which they told their children.
Below are the fancied Blessings asked by the fictitious Negro family, in
the story, whose hospitality had been abused.
BLESSING WITH COMPANY PRESENT
Oh Lawd now bless an' bīn' us,
An' put ole Satan 'hīn' us.
Oh let yō' Sperit mīn' us.
Don't let none hongry fīn' us.
BLESSING WITHOUT COMPANY
Oh Lawd have mussy now upon us,
An' keep 'way some our neighbors from us.
For w'en dey all comes down upon us,
Dey eats mōs' all our victuals from us.
ANIMAL PERSECUTORS
I went up on de mountain,
To git a bag o' co'n.
Dat coon, he sicked 'is dog on me,
Dat 'possum blowed 'is ho'n.
Dat gobbler up an' laugh at me.
Dat pattridge giggled out.
Dat peacock squall to bust 'is sides,
To see me runnin' 'bout.
FOUR RUNAWAY NEGROES--WHENCE THEY CAME
Once fō' runaway Niggers,
Dey met in de road.
An' dey ax one nudder:
Whar dey come from.
Den one up an' say:
"I'se jes come down from Chapel Hill
Whar de Niggers hain't wuked an' never will."
Den anudder up an' say:
"I'se jes come here from Guinea Gall
Whar dey eats de cow up, skin an' all."
Den de nex' Nigger say
Whar he done come from:
"Dey wuked you night an' day as dey could;
Dey never had stopped an' dey never would."
De las' Nigger say
Whar he come from:
"De Niggers all went out to de Ball;
De thick, de thin, de short, de tall."
But dey'd all please set up,
Jes lak ole Br'er Rabbit
W'en he look fer a dog.
An' keep it in mind,
Whilst dey boasts 'bout deir gals
An' dem t'other things:
"Dat none deir gals wus lak Sallie Jane,
Fer dat gal wus sweeter dan sugar cane."
WISE SAYING SECTION
LEARN TO COUNT
Naught's a naught,
Five's a figger.
All fer de white man,
None fer de Nigger.
Ten's a ten,
But it's mighty funny;
When you cain't count good,
You hain't got no money.
THE WAR IS ON
De boll-weevil's in de cotton,
De cut-worm's in de corn,
De Devil's in de white man;
An' de wah's a-gwine on.
Poor Nigger hain't got no home!
Poor Nigger hain't got no home!
HOW TO PLANT AND CULTIVATE SEEDS
Plant: One fer de blackbird
Two fer de crow,
Three fer de jaybird
An' fō' fer to grow.
Den: When you goes to wuk,
Don't never stand still;
When you pull de grass,
Pull it out'n de hill.
A MAN OF WORDS
A man o' words an' not o' deeds,
Is lak a gyarden full o' weeds.
De weeds 'gin to grow
Lak a gyarden full o' snow.
De snow 'gin to fly
Lak a eagle in de sky.
De sky 'gin to roar
Lak a hammer on yō' door.
De door 'gin to crack
Lak a hick'ry on yō' back.
Yō' back 'gin to smart
Lak a knife in yō' heart.
Yō' heart 'gin to fail
Lak a boat widout a sail.
De boat 'gin to sink
Lak a bottle full o' ink.
Dat ink, it won't write
Neider black nor white.
Dat man o' words an' not o' deeds,
Is lak a gyarden full o' weeds.
INDEPENDENT
I'se jes as innerpenunt as a pig on ice.
Gwineter git up ag'in if I slips down twice.
If I cain't git up, I can jes lie down.
I don't want no Niggers to be he'pin' me 'roun'.
TEMPERANCE RHYME
Whisky nor brandy hain't no friend to my kind.
Dey killed my pō' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind.
Sometime he drunk whisky, sometime he drunk ale;
Sometime he kotch de rawhide, an' sometime de flail.
On yon'er high mountain, I'll set up dar high;
An' de wild geese can cheer me while passin' on by.
Go 'way, young ladies, an' let me alone;
For you know I'se a poor boy, an' a long ways from home.
Go put up de hosses an' give 'em some hay;
But don't give me no whisky, so long as I stay.
For whisky nor brandy hain't friend to my kind;
Dey killed my pō' daddy, an' dey troubled my mind.
THAT HYPOCRITE
I tell you how dat hypocrite do,
He come down to my house, an' talk about you;
He talk about me, an' he talk about you;
An' dat's de way dat hypocrite do.
I tell you how dat hypocrite pray.
He pray out loud in de hypocrite way.
He pray out loud, got a heap to say;
An' dat's de way dat hypocrite pray.
I tell you how dat hypocrite 'ten',
He 'ten' dat he love, an' he don't love men.
He 'ten' dat he love, an' he hate Br'er Ben;
An' dat's de way dat hypocrite 'ten'.
DRINKING RAZOR SOUP
He's been drinkin' razzer soup;
Dat sharp Nigger, black lak ink.
If he don't watch dat tongue o' his,
Somebody'll hurt 'im 'fōr' he think.
He cain't drive de pigeons t' roost,
Dough he talk so big an' smart.
Hain't got de sense to tole 'em in.
Cain't more 'an drive dat ole mule chyart.
OLD MAN KNOW-ALL
Ole man Know-All, he come 'round
Wid his nose in de air, turned 'way frum de ground.
His ole woolly head hain't been combed fer a week;
It say: "Keep still, while Know-All speak."
Ole man Know-All's tongue, it run;
He jes know'd ev'rything under de sun.
When you knowed one thing, he knowed mō'.
He 'us sharp 'nough to stick an' green 'nough to grow.
Ole man Know-All died las' week.
He got drowned in de middle o' de creek.
De bridge wus dar, an' dar to stay.
But he knowed too much to go dat way.
FED FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE
I nebber starts to break my colt,
Till he's ole enough to trabble.
I nebber digs my taters up
Wen dey's only right to grabble.
So w'en you sees me risin' up
To structify in meetin',
You can know I'se climbed de Knowledge Tree
An' done some apple eatin'.
THE TONGUE
Got a tongue dat jes run when it walk?
It cain't talk.
Got a tongue dat can hush when it talk?--
It cain't squawk.
BRAG AND BOAST
Brag is a big dog;
But Hold Fast, he is better.
Dem big black rough hands,
Dey cain't write no letter.
Boast, he barks an' growls loud;
But Bulger, he hain't no shirker.
Dat big loud mouf Nigger,
He hain't never no worker.
SELF-CONTROL
Befo' you says dat ugly word,
You stop an' count ten.
Den if you wants to say dat word,
Begin an' count again.
Don't have a tongue tied in de middle,
An' loose frum en' to en'.
You mus' think twice, den speak once;
Dat [49]donkey cain't count ten.
[49] The somewhat less dignified term was more commonly used.
SPEAK SOFTLY
"Wus dat you spoke,
Or a fence rail broke?"
Br'er Rabbit say to de Jay
[50]W'en you don't speak sof',
Yō' baits comes off;
An' de fish jes swim away.
[50] The last three lines of the rhyme was a superstition current among
antebellum Negroes.
STILL WATER RUNS DEEP
Dat still water, it run deep.
Dat shaller water prattle.
Dat tongue, hung in a holler head,
Jes roll 'round an' rattle.
DON'T TELL ALL YOU KNOW
Keep dis in min', an' all 'll go right;
As on yō' way you goes;
Be shore you knows 'bout all you tells,
But don't tell all you knows.
[51]JACK AND DINAH WANT FREEDOM
Ole Aunt Dinah, she's jes lak me.
She wuk so hard dat she want to be free.
But, you know, Aunt Dinah's gittin' sorter ole;
An' she's feared to go to Canada, caze it's so cōl'.
Dar wus ole Uncle Jack, he want to git free.
He find de way Norf by de moss on de tree.
He cross dat [52]river a-floatin' in a tub.
Dem [53]Patterollers give 'im a mighty close rub.
Dar is ole Uncle Billy, he's a mighty good Nigger.
He tote all de news to Mosser a little bigger.
When you tells Uncle Billy, you wants free fer a fac';
De nex' day de hide drap off'n yō' back.
[51] The writer wishes to give explanation as to why the rhyme "Jack and
Dinah Want Freedom" appears under the Section of Psycho-composite Rhymes
as set forth in "The Study----" of our volume. The Negroes repeating
this rhyme did not always give the names Jack, Dinah, and Billy, as we
here record them, but at their pleasure put in the individual name of
the Negro in their surroundings whom the stanza being repeated might
represent. Thus this little rhyme was the scientific dividing, on the
part of the Negroes themselves, of the members of their race into three
general classes with respect to the matter of Freedom.
[52] The Ohio River.
[53] White guards who caught and kept slaves at the master's home.
FOREIGN SECTION
AFRICAN RHYMES
The rhymes "Tuba Blay," "Near Waldo Tee-do O mah nah mejai," "Sai
Boddeoh Sumpun Komo," and "Byanswahn-Byanswahn" were kindly contributed
by Mr. John H. Zeigler, Monrovia, Liberia, and Mr. C. T. Wardoh of the
Bassa Tribe, Liberia. They are natives and are now in America for
collegiate study and training.
NEAR-WALDO-TEE-DO O MAH NAH MEJAI
OR
NEAR-WALDO-TEE-DO IS MY SWEETHEART
1. A yehn me doddoc Near Waldo Tee-do.
Yehn me doddoc o-o seoh-o-o.
Omah nahn mejai Near Waldo Tee-do.
Omah nahn mejai Near Waldo Tee-do.
_Translation_
Near Waldo Tee-do gave me a suit.
He gave me a suit.
Near Waldo Tee-do is my sweetheart.
Near Waldo Tee-do is my sweetheart.
TUBA BLAY
OR
AN EVENING SONG
1. Seah O, Tuba blay.
Tuba blay, Tuba blay.
2. O blay wulna nahn blay.
Tuba blay, Tuba blay.
_Translation_
1. Oh please Tuba sing.
Tuba sing, Tuba sing.
2. Oh sing that song.
Tuba sing, Tuba sing.
THE OWL
We are indebted for this Baluba rhyme to Dr. and Mrs. William H.
Sheppard, pioneer missionaries under the Southern Presbyterian Church.
The little production comes from Congo, Africa.
Sala wa mĕn tĕnge, Cimpungelu.
Sala wa mĕn tĕnge, Cimpungelu.
Meme taya wewe, Cimpungelu.
Sala wa mĕn tĕnge, Cimpungelu.
_Translation_
The dancing owl waves his spread tail feathers.
I'm the owl.
The dancing owl waves his spread tail feathers.
I'm the owl.
I now tell you by my dancing, I'm the owl.
The dancing owl waves his spread tail feathers.
I'm the owl.
SAI BODDEOH SUMPUN KOMO
OR
I AM NOT GOING TO MARRY SUMPUN
1. Sai Sumpun komo.
De Sumpun nenah?
Sumpun se jello jeppo
Boddeoh Sumpun.
2. Sai Sumpun komo.
De Sumpun nenah?
Sumpun auch nahn jehn deddoc.
Boddeoh Sumpun.
_Translation_
1. I am not going to marry Sumpun.
What has Sumpun done?
Sumpun doesn't live a seafaring life
Boddeoh Sumpun.
2. I am not going to marry Sumpun.
What has Sumpun done?
Sumpun does not support me.
Boddeoh Sumpun.
BYANSWAHN-BYANSWAHN
OR
A BOAT SONG
Ō-Ō Byanswahn blay Tanner tee-o-o.
O Byanswahn jekah jubha.
De jo Byanswahn se kah jujah dai.
Ō Byanswahn blay dai Tanner tee-o-o.
_Translation_
Oh boat, come back to me.
Since you carried my child away,
I have not seen that child.
Oh boat come back to me.
THE TURKEY BUZZARD
Dr. C. C. Fuller: a missionary at Chikore Melsetter, Rhodesia, Africa,
was good enough to secure for the compiler this rhyme, written in
Chindau, from the Rev. John E. Hatch, also a missionary in South Africa.
Riti, riti, mwana wa rashika.
Ndizo, ndizo kurgya ku wande.
Riti, riti, mwana wa oneka.
Ndizo, ndizo ti wande issu.
_Translation_
Turkey buzzard, turkey buzzard, your child is lost.
That is all right, the food will be more plentiful.
Turkey buzzard, turkey buzzard, your child is found.
That is all right, we will increase in number.
THE FROGS
The following child's play rhyme in Baluba with its translation was
contributed by Mrs. L. G. Sheppard, who was for many years a missionary
in Congo, Africa.
Cula, Cula, Kuya kudi Kunyi?
Tuyiya ku cisila wa Baluba.
Tun kuata tua kuesa cinyi?
Tua kudimuka kua musode.
_Translation_
Frogs, frogs, where are you going?
We are going to the market of the Baluba.
If they catch you, what will they do?
They will turn us all into lizards.
JAMAICA RHYME
BUSCHER GARDEN
This Negro rhyme from rural Jamaica was contributed by Dr. Cecil B.
Roddock, a native of that country. The word _Buscher_ means an overseer
or master of a plantation.
All a night, me da watch a brother Wayrum;
Wayrum ina me Buscher garden.
Oh, Brother Wayrum! Wha' a you da do,
To make a me Buscher a catch a you?
Oh a me Buscher, in a me Buscher garden;
Me a beg a me Buscher a pardon!
VENEZUELAN NEGRO RHYMES
These Venezuelan rhymes: "A 'Would be' Immigrant" and "Game Contestant's
Song," came to us through the kindness of Mr. J. C. Williams, Caracas,
Venezuela, S. A. He is a native of Venezuela.
GAME CONTESTANT'S SONG
We're going to dig!
We're going to dig a sepulcher to bury those regiments.
White Rose Union!
Get yourself in readiness to bury those regiments.
Oh Grentville! [54]Cici! Cici!
Beat them forever.
Sa your de vrai!
We'll send them a challenge,
To mardi carnival.
Sa your de vrai!!
[54] Cici = a kind of game.
A "WOULD BE" IMMIGRANT
Conjo Celestine! Oh
He was going to Panama.
Reavay Trinidad!
Celestine Revay, la Grenada!
What d'you think bring Celestine back?
What d'you think bring Celestine back?
What d'you think bring Celestine to me?
Twenty cents for a cup of tea.
TRINIDAD NEGRO RHYMES
We are very grateful to Mr. L. A. Brown for his kindness in giving to us
the two Venezuelan rhymes which follow. His home is in Princess Town,
Trinidad, B. W. I.
UN BELLE MARIE COOLIE
OR
BEAUTIFUL MARIE, THE EAST INDIAN
Un belle Marie Coolie!
Un belle Marie Coolie!
Un belle Marie Coolie!
Vous belle dame, vous belle pour moi.
Papa est un African.
Mamma est un belle Coolie.
Un belle Marie Coolie!
Vous belle dame, vous belle pour moi.
_Translation_
Beautiful Marie, the East Indian!
Beautiful Marie, the East Indian!
Beautiful Marie, the East Indian!
You beautiful woman, you're good enough for me.
Papa is an African.
Mamma is a beautiful East Indian.
Beautiful Marie, the East Indian!
You beautiful woman, you're good enough for me.
A TOM CAT
My father had a big Tom cat,
That tried to play a fiddle.
He struck it here, and he struck it there,
And he struck it in the middle.
PHILIPPINE ISLAND RHYME
The following rhyme came to me through the kindness of Mr. C. W. Ransom,
Grand Chain, Ill., U.S.A. Mr. Ransom served three years with the United
States Army in the Philippine Islands.
See that Monkey up the cocoanut tree,
A-jumpin' an' a-throwin' nuts at me?
El hombre no savoy,
No like such play.
All same to Americano,
No hay diqué.
Part II
A STUDY IN NEGRO FOLK RHYMES
The lore of the American Negro is rich in story, in song, and in Folk
rhymes. These stories and songs have been partially recorded, but so far
as I know there is no collection of the American Negro Folk Rhymes. The
collection in Part I is a compilation of American Negro Folk Rhymes, and
this study primarily concerns them; but it was necessary to have a
Foreign Section of Rhymes in order to make our study complete. I have
therefore inserted a little Foreign Section of African, Venezuelan,
Jamaican, Trinidad, and Philippine Negro Rhymes; and along with them
have placed the names of the contributors to whom we are under great
obligations, as well as to the many others who have given valuable
assistance and suggestions in the matter of the American Negro Rhymes
recorded.
When critically measured by the laws and usages governing the best
English poetry, Negro Folk Rhymes will probably remind readers of the
story of the good brother, who arose solemnly in a Christian praise
meeting, and thanked God that he had broken all the Commandments, but
had kept his religion.
Though decent rhyme is often wanting, and in the case of the "Song to
the Runaway Slave," there is no rhyme at all, the rhythm is found almost
perfect in all of them.
A few of the Rhymes bear the mark of a somewhat recent date in
composition. The majority of them, however, were sung by Negro fathers
and mothers in the dark days of American slavery to their children who
listened with eyes as large as saucers and drank them down with mouths
wide open. The little songs were similar in structure to the Jubilee
Songs, also of Negro Folk origin.
If one will but examine the recorded Jubilee songs, he will find that it
is common for stanzas, which are apparently most distantly related in
structure, to sing along in perfect rhythm in the same tune that
carefully counts from measure to measure one, two; or one, two, three,
four. Here is an example of two stanzas taken from the Jubilee song,
"Wasn't That a Wide River?"
1. "Old Satan's just like a snake in the grass,
He's a-watching for to bite you as you pass.
2. Shout! Shout! Satan's about.
Just shut your door, and keep him out."
An examination of stanzas in various Jubilee songs will show in the same
song large variations in poetic feet, etc., not only from stanza to
stanza; but very often from line to line, and even from phrase to
phrase. Notwithstanding all this variation, a well trained band of
singers will render the songs with such perfect rhythm that one scarcely
realizes that the structure of any one stanza differs materially from
that of another.
A stanza, as it appears in Negro Folk Rhymes, is of the same
construction as that found in the Jubilee Songs. A perfect rhythm is
there. If while reading them you miss it, read yet once again; you will
find it in due season if you "faint not" too early.
As a rule, Negro Folk verse is so written that it fits into measures of
music written 4/4 or 2/4 time. You can therefore read Negro Folk Rhymes
silently counting: one, two; or, one, two, three, four; and the stanzas
fit directly into the imaginary music measures if you are reading in
harmony with the intended rhythm. I know of only three Jubilee Songs
whose stanzas are transcribed as exceptions. They are--
(1) "I'm Going to Live with Jesus," 6/8 time, (2) "Gabriel's Trumpet's
Going to Blow," 3/4 time, and (3) "Lord Make Me More Patient," 6/8
time. It is interesting to note along with these that the "Song of the
Great Owl," the "Negro Soldier's Civil War Chant," and "Destitute Former
Slave Owners," are seemingly the only ones in our Folk Rhyme collection
which would call for a 3/4 or 6/8 measure. Such a measure is rare in all
literary Negro Folk productions.
The Negro, then, repeated or sang his Folk Rhymes, and danced them to
4/4 and 2/4 measures. Thus Negro Folk Rhymes, with very few exceptions,
are poetry where a music measure is the unit of measurement for the
words rather than the poetic foot. This is true whether the Rhyme is, or
is not, sung. _Imaginary measures either of two or four beats, with a
given number of words to a beat, a number that can be varied limitedly
at will, seems to be the philosophy underlying all Negro slave rhyme
construction._
As has just been casually mentioned, the Negro Folk Rhyme was used for
the dance. There are Negro Folk Rhyme Dance Songs and Negro Folk Dance
Rhymes. An example of the former is found in "The Banjo Picking," and of
the latter, "Juba," both found in this collection. The reader may wonder
how a Rhyme simply repeated was used in the dance. The procedure was as
follows: Usually one or two individuals "star" danced at time. The
others of the crowd (which was usually large) formed a circle about this
one or two who were to take their prominent turn at dancing. I use the
terms "star" danced and "prominent turn" because in the latter part of
our study we shall find that all those present engaged sometimes at
intervals in the dance. But those forming the circle, for most of the
time, repeated the Rhyme, clapping their hands together, and patting
their feet in rhythmic time with the words of the Rhyme being repeated.
It was the task of the dancers in the middle of the circle to execute
some graceful dance in such a manner that their feet would beat a tattoo
upon the ground answering to every word, and sometimes to every syllable
of the Rhyme being repeated by those in the circle. There were many such
Rhymes. "'Possum Up the Gum Stump," and "Jawbone" are good examples. The
stanzas to these Rhymes were not usually limited to two or three, as is
generally the case with those recorded in our collection. Each selection
usually had many stanzas. Thus as there came variation in the words from
stanza to stanza, the skill of the dancers was taxed to its utmost, in
order to keep up the graceful dance and to beat a changed tattoo upon
the ground corresponding to the changed words. If any find fault with
the limited number of stanzas recorded in our treatise, I can in apology
only sing the words of a certain little encore song each of whose two
little stanzas ends with the words, "Please don't call us back, because
we don't know any more."
There is a variety of Dance Rhyme to which it is fitting to call
attention. This variety is illustrated in our collection by "Jump Jim
Crow," and "Juba." In such dances as these, the dancers were required to
give such movements of body as would act the sentiment expressed by the
words while keeping up the common requirements of beating these same
words in a tattoo upon the ground with the feet and executing
simultaneously a graceful dance.
It is of interest also to note that the antebellum Negro while repeating
his Rhymes which had no connection with the dance usually accompanied
the repeating with the patting of his foot upon the ground. Among other
things he was counting off the invisible measures and bars of his
Rhymes, things largely unseen by the world but very real to him. Every
one who has listened to a well sung Negro Jubilee Song knows that it is
almost impossible to hear one sung and not pat the foot. I have seen the
feet of the coldest blooded Caucasians pat right along while Jubilee
melodies were being sung.
All Negro Folk productions, including the Negro Folk Rhymes, seem to
call for this patting of the foot. The explanation which follows is
offered for consideration. The orchestras of the Native African were
made up largely of crudely constructed drums of one sort or another.
Their war songs and so forth were sung to the accompaniment of these
drum orchestras. When the Negroes were transported to America, and began
to sing songs and to chant words in another tongue, they still sang
strains calling, through inheritance, for the accompaniment of their
ancestral drum. The Negro's drum having fallen from him as he entered
civilization, he unwittingly called into service his foot to take its
place. This substitution finds a parallelism in the highly cultivated La
France rose, which being without stamens and pistils must be propagated
by cuttings or graftings instead of by seeds. The rose, purposeless,
emits its sweet perfume to the breezes and thus it attracts insects for
cross fertilization simply because its staminate and pistillate
ancestors thus called the insect world for that purpose. The rattle of
the crude drum of the Native African was loud by inheritance in the
hearts of his early American descendants and its unseen ghost walks in
the midst of all their poetry.
Many Negro Folk Rhymes were used as banjo and fiddle (violin) songs. It
ought to be borne in mind, however, that even these were quite often
repeated without singing or playing. It was common in the early days of
the public schools of the South to hear Negro children use them as
declamations. The connection, however, of Negro Folk Rhymes with their
secular music productions is well worthy of notice.
I have often heard those who liked to think and discuss things musical,
wonder why little or no music of a secular kind worth while seemed to be
found among Negroes while their religious music, the Jubilee Songs, have
challenged the admiration of the world. The songs of most native peoples
seem to strike "high water mark" in the secular form. Probably numbers
of us have heard the explanation: "You see, the Negro is deeply
emotional; religion appealed to him as did nothing else. The Negro
therefore spent his time singing and shouting praises to God, who alone
could whisper in his heart and stir up these emotions." There is perhaps
much truth in this explanation. It is also such a delicate and high
compliment to the Negro race, that I hesitate to touch it. One of the
very few gratifying things that has come to Negroes is the unreserved
recognition of their highly religious character. There is a truth,
however, about the relation between the Negro Folk Rhyme and the Negro's
banjo and fiddle music which ought to be told even though some older,
nicer viewpoints might be a little shifted.
There were quite a few Rhymes sung where the banjo and fiddle formed
what is termed in music a simple accompaniment. Examples of these are
found in "Run, Nigger, Run," and "I'll Wear Me a Cotton Dress." In such
cases the music consisted of simple short tunes unquestionably "born to
die."
There was another class of Rhymes like "Devilish Pigs," that were used
with the banjo and fiddle in quite another way. It was the banjo and
fiddle productions of this kind of Rhyme that made the "old time" Negro
banjo picker and fiddler famous. It has caused quite a few, who heard
them, to declare that, saint or sinner, it was impossible to keep your
feet still while they played. The compositions were comparatively long.
From one to four lines of a Negro Folk Rhyme were sung to the opening
measures of the instrumental composition; then followed the larger and
remaining part of the composition, instruments alone. In the Rhyme
"Devilish Pigs" four lines were used at a time. Each time that the music
theme of the composition was repeated, another set of Rhyme lines was
repeated; and the variations in the music theme were played in each
repeat which recalled the newly repeated words of the Rhyme. The ideal
in composition from an instrumental viewpoint might quite well remind
one of the ideal in piano compositions, which consists of a theme with
variations. The first movement of Beethoven's Sonata, Opus 26,
illustrates the music ideal in composition to which I refer.
So far as I know no Caucasian instrumental music composer has ever
ordered the performers under his direction to sing a few of the first
measures of his composition while the string division of the orchestra
played its opening chords. Only the ignorant Negro composer has done
this. Some white composers have made little approaches to it. A fair
sample of an approach is found in the Idylls of Edward McDowell, for
piano, where every exquisite little tone picture is headed by some gem
in verse, reading which the less musically gifted may gain a deeper
insight into the philosophical tone discourse set forth in the notes and
chords of the composition.
The Negro Folk Rhyme, then, furnished the ideas about which the "old
time" Negro banjo picker and fiddler clustered his best instrumental
music thoughts. It is too bad that this music passed away unrecorded
save by the hearts of men. Paul Laurence Dunbar depicts its telling
effects upon the hearer in his poem "The Party":
"Cripple Joe, de ole rheumatic, danced dat flo' frum side to middle.
Throwed away his crutch an' hopped it, what's rheumatics 'gainst a
fiddle?
Eldah Thompson got so tickled dat he lak to los' his grace,
Had to take bofe feet an' hold 'em, so's to keep 'em in deir place.
An' de Christuns an' de sinnahs got so mixed up on dat flo',
Dat I don't see how dey's pahted ef de trump had chonced to blow."
Perhaps a new school of orchestral music might be built on the Negro
idea that some of the performers sing a sentence or so here and there,
both to assist the hearers to a clearer musical understanding and to
heighten the general artistic finish. The old Negro performers generally
sang lines of the Folk Rhymes at the opening but occasionally in the
midst of their instrumental compositions. I do not recall any case where
lines were sung to the closing measures of the compositions.
It might seem odd to some that the grotesque Folk Rhyme should have
given rise to comparatively long instrumental music compositions. I
think the explanation is probably very simple. The African on his native
heath had his crude ancestral drum as his leading musical instrument. He
sang or shouted his war songs consisting of a few words, and of a few
notes, then followed them up with the beating of his drum, perhaps for
many minutes, or even for hours. In civilization, the banjo, fiddle,
"quills," and "triangle" largely took the place of his drum. Thus the
singing of opening strains and following them with the main body of the
instrumental composition, is in keeping with the Negro's inherited law
for instrumental compositions from his days of savagery. The rattling,
distinct tones of the banjo, recalling unconsciously his inherited love
for the rattle of the African ancestral drum, is probably the thing
which caused that instrument to become a favorite among Negro slaves.
I would next consider the relation of the Folk Rhymes to Negro child
life. They were instilled into children as warnings. In the years
closely following our Civil War, it was common for a young Negro child,
about to engage in a doubtful venture, to hear his mother call out to
him the Negro Rhyme recorded by Joel Chandler Harris, in the Negro
story, "The End of Mr. Bear":
"Tree stan' high, but honey mighty sweet--
Watch dem bees wid stingers on der feet."
These lines commonly served to recall the whole story, it being the
Rabbit's song in that story, and the child stopped whatever he was
doing. Other and better examples of such Rhymes are "Young Master and
Old Master," "The Alabama Way," and "You Had Better Mind Master," found
in our collection.
The warnings were commonly such as would help the slave to escape more
successfully the lash, and to live more comfortably under slave
conditions. I would not for once intimate that I entertain the thought
that the ignorant slave carefully and philosophically studied his
surroundings, reasoned it to be a fine method to warn children through
poetry, composed verse, and like a wise man proceeded to use it. Of
course thinking preceded the making of the Rhyme, but a conscious system
of making verses for the purpose did not exist. I have often watched
with interest a chicken hen lead forth her brood of young for the first
time. While the scratching and feeding are going on, all of a sudden the
hen utters a loud shriek, and flaps her wings. The little chicks,
although they have never seen a hawk, scurry hither and thither, and so
prostrate their little brown and ashen bodies upon the ground as almost
to conceal themselves. The Negro Folk Rhymes of warning must be looked
upon a little in this same light. They are but the strains of terror
given by the promptings of a mother instinct full enough of love to give
up life itself for its defenseless own.
Many Rhymes were used to convey to children the common sense truths of
life, hidden beneath their comic, crudely cut coats. Good examples are
"Old Man Know-All," "Learn to Count," and "Shake the Persimmons Down."
All through the Rhymes will be found here and there many stanzas full of
common uncommon sense, worthwhile for children.
Many Negro Folk Rhymes repeated or sung to children on their parents'
knees were enlarged and told to them as stories, when they became older.
The Rhyme in our collection on "Judge Buzzard" is one of this kind. In
the Negro version of the race between the hare and the tortoise
("rabbit and terrapin"), the tortoise wins not through the hare's going
to sleep, but through a gross deception of all concerned, including even
the buzzard who acted as Judge. The Rhyme is a laugh on "Jedge Buzzard."
It was commonly repeated to Negro children in olden days when they
passed erroneous judgments. "Buckeyed rabbit! Whoopee!" in our volume
belongs with the Negro story recorded by Joel Chandler Harris under the
title, "How Mr. Rabbit Lost His Fine Bushy Tail," though for some reason
Mr. Harris failed to weave it into the story as was the Negro custom.
"The Turtle's Song," in our collection, is another, which belongs with
the story, "Mr. Terrapin Shows His Strength"; a Negro story given to the
world by the same author, though the Rhyme was not recorded by him. It
might be of interest to know that the Negroes, when themselves telling
the Folk stories, usually sang the Folk Rhyme portions to little
"catchy" Negro tunes. I would not under any circumstances intimate that
Mr. Harris carelessly left them out. He recorded many little stanzas in
the midst of the stories. Examples are:
(a) "We'll stay at home when you're away
'Cause no gold won't pay toll."
(b) "Big bird catch, little bird sing.
Bug bee zoom, little bee sting.
Little man lead, and the big horse follow,
Can you tell what's good for a head in a hollow?"
These and many others are fragmentarily recorded among Mr. Harris' Negro
stories in "Nights With Uncle Remus."
Folk Rhymes also formed in many cases the words of Negro Play Songs.
"Susie Girl," and "Peep Squirrel," found in our collection, are good
illustrations of the Rhymes used in this way. The words and the music of
such Rhymes were usually of poor quality. When, however, they were sung
by children with the proper accompanying body movements, they might
quite well remind one of the "Folk Dances" used in the present best
up-to-date Primary Schools. They were the little rays of sunshine in the
dark dreary monotonous lives of black slave children.
Possibly the thing which will impress the reader most in reading Negro
Folk Rhymes is their good-natured drollery and sparkling nonsense. I
believe this is very important. Many have recounted in our hearing, the
descriptions of "backwoods" Negro picnics. I have witnessed some of
them where the good-natured vender of lemonade and cakes cried out:
"Here's yō' cōl' ice lemonade,
It's made in de shade,
It's stirred wid a spade.
Come buy my cōl' ice lemonade.
It's made in de shade
An' sōl' in de sun.
Ef you hain't got no money,
You cain't git none.
One glass fer a nickel,
An' two fer a dime,
Ef you hain't got de chink,
You cain't git mine.
Come right dis way,
Fer it shō' will pay
To git candy fer de ladies
An' cakes fer de babies."
"Did these venders sell?" Well, all agree that they did. The same
principle applied, with much of the nonsense eliminated, will probably
make of the Negro a great merchant, as caste gives way enough to allow
him a common man's business chance. Of all the races of men, the Negro
alone has demonstrated his ability to come into contact with the white
man and neither move on nor be annihilated. I believe this is largely
due to his power to muster wit and humor on all occasions, and even to
laugh in the face of adversity. He refused during the days of slavery to
take the advice of Job's wife, and to "Curse God and die." He repeated
and sang his comic Folk Rhymes, danced, lived, and came out of the Night
of Bondage comparatively strong.
The compiler of the Rhymes was quite interested to find that as a rule
the country-reared Negro had a larger acquaintance with Folk Rhymes than
one brought up in the city. The human mind craves occasional recreation,
entertainment, and amusement. In cities where there is an almost
continuous passing along the crowded thoroughfares of much that
contributes to these ends, the slave Negro needed only to keep his eyes
open, his ears attentive, and laugh. He directed his life accordingly.
But, in the country districts there was only the monotony of quiet woods
and waving fields of cotton. The rural scenes, though beautiful in
themselves, refuse to amuse or entertain those who will not hold
communion with them. The country Negro longing for amusement communed in
his crude way, and Nature gave him Folk Rhymes for entertainment. Among
those found to be clearly of this kind may be mentioned "The Great Owl's
Song," "Tails," "Redhead Woodpecker," "The Snail's Reply," "Bob-white's
Song," "Chuck Will's Widow Song," and many others.
The Folk Rhymes were not often repeated as such or as whole compositions
by the "grown-ups" among Negroes apart from the Play and the Dance. If,
however, you had had an argument with an antebellum Negro, had gotten
the better of the argument, and he still felt confident that he was
right, you probably would have heard him close his side of the debate
with the words: "Well, 'Ole Man Know-All is Dead.'" This is only a short
prosaic version of his rhyme "Old Man Know-All," found in our
collection. Many of the characteristic sayings of "Uncle Remus" woven
into story by Joel Chandler Harris had their origin in these Folk
Rhymes. "Dem dat know too much sleep under de ash-hopper" (Uncle Remus)
clearly intimates to all who know about the old-fashioned ash-hopper
that such an individual lies. This saying is a part of another stanza of
"Old Man Know-All," but I cannot recall it from my dim memory of the
past, and others whom I have asked seem equally unable to do so, though
they have once known it.
As is the case with all things of Folk origin, there is usually more
than one version of each Negro Folk Rhyme. In many cases the exercising
of a choice between many versions was difficult. I can only express the
hope that my choices have been wise.
There are two American Negro Folk Rhymes in our collection: "Frog in a
Mill" and "Tree Frogs," which are oddities in "language." They are
rhymes of a rare type of Negro, which has long since disappeared. They
were called "Ebo" Negroes and "Guinea" Negroes. The so-called "Ebo"
Negro used the word "la" very largely for the word "the." This and some
other things have caused me to think that the "Ebo" Negro was probably
one who was first a slave among the French, Spanish, or Portuguese, and
was afterwards sold to an English-speaking owner. Thus his language was
a mixture of African, English, and one of these languages. The so-called
"Guinea" Negro was simply one who had not been long from Africa; his
language being a mixture of his African tongue and English. These rhymes
are to the ordinary Negro rhymes what "Jutta Cord la" in "Nights with
Uncle Remus," by Joel Chandler Harris, is to the ordinary Negro stories
found there. They are probably representative, in language, of the most
primitive Negro Folk productions.
Some of the rhymes are very old indeed. If one will but read "Master Is
Six Feet One Way," found in our collection, he will find in it a
description of a slave owner attired in Colonial garb. It clearly
belongs, as to date of composition, either to Colonial days, or to the
very earliest years of the American Republic. When we consider it as a
slave rhyme, it is far from crudest, notwithstanding the early period of
its production.
If one carefully studies our collection of rhymes, he will probably get
a new and interesting picture of the Negro's mental attitude and
reactions during the days of his enslavement. One of these mental
reactions is calculated to give one a surprise. One would naturally
expect the Negro under hard, trying, bitter slave conditions, to long to
be white. There is a remarkable Negro Folk rhyme which shows that this
was not the case. This rhyme is: "I'd Rather Be a Negro Than a Poor
White Man." We must bear in mind that a Folk Rhyme from its very nature
carries in it the crystallized thought of the masses. This rhyme, though
a little acidic and though we have recorded the milder version, leaves
the unquestioned conclusion that, though the Negro masses may have
wished for the exalted station of the rich Southern white man and
possibly would have willingly had a white color as a passport to
position, there never was a time when the Negro masses desired to be
white for the sake of being white. Of course there is the Negro rhyme,
"I Wouldn't Marry a Black Girl," but along with it is another Negro
rhyme, "I Wouldn't Marry a White or a Yellow Negro Girl." The two rhymes
simply point out together a division of Negro opinion as to the ideal
standard of beauty in personal complexion. One part of the Negroes
thought white or yellow the more beautiful standard and the other part
of the Negroes thought black the more beautiful standard.
The body of the Rhymes, here and there, carries many facts between the
lines, well worth knowing.
This collection also will shed some light on how the Negro managed to go
through so many generations "in slavery and still come out" with a
bright, capable mind. There were no colleges or schools for them, but
there were Folk Rhymes, stories, Jubilee songs, and Nature; they used
these and kept mentally fit.
I now approach the more difficult and probably the most important
portion of my discussion in the Study of Negro Folk Rhymes. It is a
discussion that I would have willingly omitted, had I not thought that
some one owed it to the world. Seeing a debt, as I thought, and not
seeing another to pay it, I have reluctantly undertaken to discharge
the obligation.
If I were so fortunate as to possess a large flower garden with many new
and rare genera and species, and wished to acquaint my friends with
them, I should first take these friends for a walk through the garden,
that they might see the odd tints and hues, might inhale a little of the
new fragrance, and might get some idea as to the prospects for the
utilization of these new plants in the world. Then, taking these friends
back to my study room, I should consider in a friendly manner along with
them, the Families and the Species, and the varieties. Finally, I should
endeavor to lay before them from whence these new and strange flowers
came. I have endeavored to pursue this method in my discussion of the
Negro Folk Rhymes. In the foregoing I have endeavored to take the
friendly reader for a walk through this new and strange garden of
Rhymes, and I now extend an invitation to him to come into the Study
Room for a more critical view of them.
When one enters upon the slightest contemplation of Negro Folk Rhyme
classification, and is kind-hearted enough to dignify them with a claim
to kinship to real poetry, the word _Ballad_ rolls out without the
slightest effort, as a term that takes them all in. Yes, this is very
true, but they are of a strange type indeed. They are Nature Ballads,
many of them, in the sense as ordinarily used. In quite another sense,
however, from that in which Nature Ballad is ordinarily used, about all
Folk Rhymes are Nature Ballads.
I do not have reference to the thought content, but have reference to
what I term Nature Ballads in form. Permit me to explain by analogy just
what I would convey by the term Nature Ballad in form.
All Nature is one. Though we arbitrarily divide Nature's objects for
study, they are indissolubly bound together and every part carries in
some part of its constitution some well defined marks which characterize
the other parts with which it has no immediate connection. To
illustrate: the absolutely pure sapphire, pure aluminic oxide,
crystallized, is commonly colorless, but we know that Nature's most
beautiful sapphires are not colorless, but are blue, and of other
beautiful tints. These color tints are due to minutest traces of other
substances, not at all of general common sapphire composition. We call
them all sapphires, however, regardless of their little impurities which
are present to enhance their charm and beauty. Likewise, all animal life
begins with one cell, and though the one cell in one case develops into
a vertebrate, and in another case into an invertebrate the cells persist
and so all animal life has cellular structure in common. Yet, each
animal branch has predominant traits that distinguish it from all other
branches. This same thing is true of plants.
Nature's method, then, of making things seems to be to put in a large
enough amount of one thing to brand the article, and then to mix in, in
small amounts, enough of other things to lend charm and beauty without
taking the article out of its general class.
This is that which goes to make Negro Folk Rhymes Nature Ballads in
form. They are ballads, but all in the midst of even a Dance Song, by
Nature an ordinary ballad, there may be interwoven comedy, tragedy, and
nearly every kind of imaginable thing which goes rather with other
general forms of poetry than with the ballad. As an example, in the
Dance Song, "Promises of Freedom," we have mustered before our eyes the
comic drawing of a deceptive ugly old Mistress and then follows the
intimation of the tragic death of a poisoned slave owner, and as we are
tempted to dance along in thought with the rhymer, we cannot escape
getting the subtle impression that this slave had at least some "vague"
personal knowledge of how the Master got that poison. It is a common
easy-going ballad, but it is tinted with tragedy and comedy. This
general principle will be found to run very largely through the highest
types of Negro Folk Rhymes. It is the Nature method of construction, and
thus we call them Nature Ballads in structure, or form.
Other good examples of rhymes, Nature Ballads in structure, are "Frog
Went a-Courting," "Sheep Shell Corn," "Jack and Dinah Want Freedom."
I now direct attention further to the classification of Negro Rhymes as
Ballads. My earnest desire was to classify Negro Rhymes under ordinary
headings such as are used by literary men and women everywhere in their
general classification of Ballads. I considered this very important
because it would enable students of comparative Literature to compare
easily the Negro Folk Rhymes with the Folk Rhymes of all peoples. I was
much disappointed when I found that the Negro Folk Rhymes, when invited,
refused to take their places whole-heartedly in the ordinary
classification. As an example of many may be mentioned the little Rhyme
"Jaybird." It is a Dance Song, and thus comes under the Dance Song
Division, commonly used for Ballads. But, it also belongs under Nature
Lore heading, because the Negroes many years ago often told a story, in
conjunction with song, of the great misfortunes which overtook a Negro
who tried to get his living by hunting Jaybirds. Finally it also belongs
under the heading Superstitions, for its last stanza very plainly
alludes to the old Negro superstition of slavery days which declared
that it was almost impossible to find Jaybirds on Friday because they
went to Hades on that day to carry sand to the Devil.
But so important do I think of comparative study that I have taken the
ordinary headings used for Ballads and, after adding that omnibus
heading "Miscellaneous," have done my best. The majority of the Rhymes
can be placed under headings ordinarily used. This was to be expected.
It is in obedience to Natural Law. We see it in the Music World. The
Caucasian music has eight fundamental tones, the Japanese music has
five, while, according to some authorities, Negro Jubilee-music has
nine; yet all these music scales have five tones in common. In the
Periodic System of Elements there are two periods; a short period and a
long period, but both periods embrace, in common, elements belonging to
the same family. So with the Ballads, certain classification headings
will very well take in both the Negro and all others. The Negro Ballad,
however, does not entirely properly fit in. I have therefore resorted to
the following expedient: I have taken the headings ordinarily used, and
have listed under each heading the Negro Rhymes which belong with it, as
nearly as possible. I have placed this classified list at the end of the
book, under the title "Comparative Study Index." By using this Index one
can locate and compare Negro Folk productions with the corresponding
Folk productions of other peoples.
The headings found in this Comparative Study Index are as follows:
1. Love Songs.
2. Dance Songs.
3. Animal and Nature Lore.
4. Nursery Rhymes.
5. Charms and Superstitions.
6. Hunting Songs.
7. Drinking Songs.
8. Wise and Gnomic Sayings.
9. Harvest Songs.
10. Biblical and Religious Themes.
11. Play Songs.
12. Miscellaneous.
With the way paved for others to make such comparative study as they
would like, I now feel free to use a classification which lends itself
more easily to a discussion of the origin and evolution of Negro Rhyme.
The basic principle used in this classification is Origin and under each
source of origin is placed the various classes of Rhymes produced. It
has seemed to the writer, who is himself a Negro, and has spent his
early years in the midst of the Rhymes and witnessed their making, that
there are three great divisions derived from three great mainsprings or
sources.
The Divisions are as follows:
I. Rhymes derived from the Social Instinct.
II. Rhymes derived from the Homing Instinct.
III. Rhymes of Psycho-composite origin.
The terms Social and Homing Instincts are familiar to every one, but the
term Psycho-composite was coined by the writer after much hesitation and
with much regret because he seemed unable to find a word which would
express what he had in mind.
To make clear: the classes of Rhymes falling under Divisions I and II
owe their crudest initial beginnings to instinct, while those under
Division III owe their crudest beginnings partly to instinct, but partly
also to intelligent thinking processes. To illustrate--Courtship Rhymes
come under Division II, because courtship primarily arises from the
homing instinct, but when we come to "quasi" wise sayings--directed
largely to criticism or toward improvement, there is very much more than
instinct concerned. In Division III the Rhymes are directed largely to
improvement. In explanation of why they are in Division III, I would
say, the desire to better one's condition is instinctive, but the
slightest attainment of the desire comes through thought pure and
simple. I have invented the term Psycho-composite to include all this.
In reading the Rhymes under Division III, one finds comparatively large,
abstract, general conclusions, such as--General loquaciousness is
unwise: Assuming to know everything is foolish: Self-control is a great
virtue. Proper preparation must be made before presuming to give
instruction, etc. Such generalizations involve something not necessarily
present in the crudest initiations of such Rhymes as those found under
Divisions I and II. Below is a tabular view of my proposed
classification of Negro Folk Rhymes:
DIVISION CLASS
1. Dance Rhymes
I. Social Instinct Rhymes 2. Dance Rhyme Songs
3. Play Songs
4. Pastime Rhymes
1. Love Rhymes
II. Homing Instinct Rhymes 2. Courtship Rhymes
3. Marriage Rhymes
4. Married Life Rhymes
III. Psycho-composite Rhymes 1. Criticism and Improvement Rhymes
Under this tabulation, let us now proceed to discuss the Origin and
Evolution of Negro Folk Rhymes.
Early in my discussion the reader will recall that I explained in
considerable detail how the Dance Rhyme words were used in the dance. I
am now ready to announce that the Dance Rhyme was derived from the
dance, and to explain how the Dance Rhyme became an evolved product of
the dance.
I witnessed in my early childhood the making of a few Dance Rhymes. I
have forgotten the words of most of those whose individual making I
witnessed but the "Jonah's Band Party" found in our collection is one
whose making I distinctly recall. I shall tell in some detail of its
origin because it serves in a measure to illustrate how the Dance Rhymes
probably had their beginnings. First of all be it known that there was a
"step" in dancing, originated by some Negro somewhere, called "Jonah's
Band" step. There is no need that I should try to describe that step
which, though of the plain dance type, was accompanied from the
beginning to the end by indescribable "frills" of foot motion. I can't
describe it, but if one will take a stick and cause it to tap so as to
knock the words: "Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's band," while he
repeats the words in the time of 2/4 music measure, the taps will
reproduce the tattoo beaten upon the ground by the feet of the dancers,
when they danced the "Jonah's Band" step. The dancers formed a circle
placing two or more of their skilled dancers in the middle of it. Now
when I first witnessed this dance, there were no words said at all.
There was simply patting with the hands and dancing, making a tattoo
which might be well represented by the words supplied later on in its
existence. Later, I witnessed the same dance, where the patting and
dancing were as usual, but one man, apparently the leader, was simply
crying out the words, "Setch a kickin' up san'!" and the crowd answered
with the words, "Jonah's Band!"--the words all being repeated in
rhythmic harmony with the patting and dancing. Thus was born the line,
"Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Band!" In some places it was the
custom to call on the dancers to join with those of the circle, at
intervals in the midst of the dance, in dancing other steps than the
Jonah's Band step. Some dance leaders, for example, simply called in
plain prose--"Dance the Mobile Buck," others calling for another step
would rhyme their call. Thus arose the last lines to each stanza, such
as--
"Raise yō' right foot, kick it up high!
Knock dat 'Mobile Buck' in de eye!"
This is the genesis of the "Jonah's Band Party," found in our
collection. The complete rhyme becomes a fine description of an old-time
Negro party. It is probable that much Dance Rhyme making originated in
this or a similar way.
Let us assume that Negro customs in Slavery days were what they were in
my childhood days, then it would come about that such an ocasional Rhyme
making in a crowd would naturally stimulate individual Rhyme makers, and
from these individuals would naturally grow up "crops" of Dance Rhymes.
Of course I cannot absolutely know, but I think when I witnessed the
making of the "Jonah's Band Party," that I witnessed the stimulus which
had produced the Dance Rhyme through the decades of preceding years. I
realize, however, that this does not account for the finished Rhyme
products. It simply gives one source of origin. How the Rhyme grew to
its complex structure will be discussed later, because that discussion
belongs not to the Dance Rhyme alone, but to all the Rhymes.
There was a final phase of development of "Jonah's Band Party" witnessed
by the writer; namely, the singing of the lines, "Setch a kickin' up
san'! Jonah's Band!" The last lines of the stanzas, the lines calling
for another step on the part of both the circle and the dancers, were
never sung to my knowledge. The little tune to the first lines consisted
of only four notes, and is inserted below.
[music]
I give this as of interest because it marks a partial transition from a
Dance Rhyme to a Dance Rhyme Song. In days of long ago I occasionally
saw a Dance Rhyme Song "patted and danced" instead of sung or played and
danced. This coupled with the transition stage of the "Jonah's Band
Dance" just given has caused me to believe that Dance Rhyme Songs were
probably evolved from Dance Rhymes pure and simple, through individuals
putting melodies to these Dance Rhymes.
As Dance Rhymes came from the dance, so likewise Play Rhymes came from
plays. I shall now discuss the one found in our collection under the
caption--"Goosie-gander." Since the Play has probably passed from the
memory of most persons, I shall tell how it was played. The children
(and sometimes those in their teens) sat in a circle. One individual,
the leader, walked inside the circle, from child to child, and said to
each in turn, "Goosie-gander." If the child answered "Goose," the leader
said, "I turn your ears loose," and went on to the next child. If he
answered "Gander," the leader said, "I pull yō' years 'way yander."
Then ensued a scuffle between the two children; each trying to pull the
other's ears. The fun for the circle came from watching the scuffle.
Finally the child who got his ears pulled took his place in the circle,
leaving the victor as master of ceremonies to call out the challenge
"Goosie-gander!" The whole idea of the play is borrowed from the
fighting of the ganders of a flock of geese for their mates. Many other
plays were likewise borrowed from Nature. Examples are found in "Hawk
and Chickens Play," and "Fox and Geese Play." "Caught by a Witch Play"
is borrowed from superstition. But to return to "Goosie-gander"--most
children of our childhood days played it, using common prose in the
calls, and answers just as we have here described it. A few children
here and there so gave their calls and responses as to rhyme them into a
kind of a little poem as it is recorded in our collection. Without
further argument, I think it can hardly be doubted that the whole thing
began as a simple prose call, and response, and that some child inclined
to rhyming things, started "to do the rest," and was assisted in
accomplishing the task by other children equally or more gifted. This
reasonably accounts for the origin of the Play Rhyme.
Now what of the Play Rhyme Songs? There were many more Play Rhyme Songs
than Play Rhymes. There were some of the Play Rhyme Songs sung in prose
version by some children and the same Play Song would be sung in rhymed
version by other children. Likewise the identical Play Song would not be
sung at all by other children; they would simply repeat the words as in
the case of the Rhyme "Goosie-gander," just discussed. The little Play
Song found in our collection under the caption, "Did You Feed My Cow?"
is one which was current in my childhood in the many versions as just
indicated. The general thought in the story of the Rhyme was the same in
all versions whether prose or rhyme, or song. In cases where children
repeated it instead of singing it, it was generally in prose and the
questions were so framed by the leader that all the general responses by
the crowd were "Yes, Ma'am!" Where it was sung, it was invariably
rhymed; and the version found in this collection was about the usual
one.
The main point in the discussion at this juncture is--that there were
large numbers of Play Songs like this one found in the transition stage
from plain prose to repeated rhyme, and to sung rhyme. Such a status
leaves little doubt that the Play Song travelled this general road in
its process of evolution.
I might take up the Courtship Rhymes, and show that they are derivatives
of Courtship, and so on to the end of all the classes given in my
outline, but since the evidences and arguments in all the cases are
essentially the same I deem it unnecessary.
I now turn attention to a peculiar general ideal in Form found in Negro
Folk Rhymes. It probably is not generally known that the Negroes, who
emerged from the House of Bondage in the 60's of the last century, had
themselves given a name to their own peculiar form of verse. If it be
known I am rather confident that it has never been written. They named
the parts of their verse "Call," and (Re) "Sponse." After explaining
what is meant by "call" and "sponse," I shall submit an evidence on the
matter. In its simplest form "call" and "sponse" were what we would call
in Caucasian music, solo and chorus. As an example, in the little Play
Song used in our illustration of Play Songs, "Did You Feed My Cow?" was
sung as a solo and was known as the "Call," while the chorus that
answered "Yes, Ma'am" was known as the "Sponse."
I now beg to offer testimony in corroboration of my assertion that
Negroes had named their Rhyme parts "Call" and "Sponse." So well were
these established parts of a Negro Rhyme recognized among Negroes that
the whole turning point of one of their best stories was based upon it.
I have reference to the Negro story recorded by Mr. Joel Chandler Harris
in his "Nights with Uncle Remus," under the caption, "Brother Fox,
Brother Rabbit, and King Deer's Daughter." Those who would enjoy the
story, as the writer did in his childhood days, as it fell from the lips
of his dear little friends and dusky playmates, will read the story in
Mr. Harris' book. The gist of the story is as follows: The fox and the
rabbit fall in love with King Deer's daughter. The fox has just about
become the successful suitor, when the rabbit goes through King Deer's
lot and kills some of King Deer's goats. He then goes to King Deer, and
tells him that the fox killed the goats, and offers to make the fox
admit the deed in King Deer's hearing. This being agreed to, the rabbit
goes to find the fox, and proposes that they serenade the King Deer
family. The fox agreed. Then the rabbit proposes that he sing the "Call"
and that the fox sing the "Sponse" (or, as Mr. Harris records the story,
the "answer"), and this too was agreed upon. We now quote from Mr.
Harris:
"Ole Br'er Rabbit, he make up de song he own se'f en' he fix it so that
he sing de _Call_ lak de Captain er de co'n-pile, en ole Br'er Fox, he
hatter sing de answer...." "Ole Br'er Rabbit, he got de call en he open
up lak dis:
"'Some folks pile up mo'n dey kin tote,
En dat w'at de matter wid King Deer's goat.'
en den Br'er Fox, he make _answer_, 'Dat's so, dat's so, en I'm glad dat
it's so.' Den de quills, and de tr'angle, dey come in, en den Br'er
Rabbit pursue on wid de call--
"'Some kill sheep, en some kill shote,
But Br'er Fox kill King Deer goat,'
en den Br'er Fox, he jine in wid de answer, 'I did, I did, en I'm glad
dat I did.'"
The writer would add that the story ends with a statement that King Deer
came out with his walking cane, and beat the fox, and then invited the
rabbit in to eat chicken pie.
From the foregoing one will recognize the naming, by the Negroes
themselves, of the parts of their rhymed song, as "call," and "answer."
Now just a word concerning the term "answer," instead of "sponse," as
used by the writer. You will notice that Mr. Harris records,
incidentally, of Br'er Rabbit "dat he sing de _call_, lak de Captain er
de co'n pile." This has reference to the singing of the Negroes at corn
huskings where the leader sings a kind of solo part, and the others by
way of response, sing a kind of chorus. At corn huskings, at plays, and
elsewhere, when Negroes sang secular songs, some one was chosen to lead.
As a little boy, I witnessed secular singing in all these places. When a
leader was chosen, the invariable words of his commission were: "You
sing the 'call' and we'll sing the '_sponse_.'" Of course the sentence
was not quite so well constructed grammatically, but "call" and "sponse"
were the terms always used. This being true, I have felt that I ought to
use these terms, though I recognize the probability of there being
communities where the word _answer_ would be used. All folk terms and
writings have different versions.
The "sponses" in most of the Negro Folk Rhymes in our collection are
wanting, and the Rhymes themselves, in most cases, consist of calls
only. As examples of those with "sponses" left, may be mentioned "Juba"
with its sponse "Juba"; "Frog Went A-courting," with its sponse
"Uh-huh!"; "Did You Feed My Cow?" with its sponse "Yes, Ma'am," etc.,
and "The Old Black Gnats," where the sponses are "I cain't git out'n
here, etc."
I shall now endeavor to show why the Negro Folk Rhymes consist in most
cases of "calls" only, and how and why the "sponses" have disappeared
from the finished product. I record here the notes of two common Negro
Play Songs along with sample stanzas used in the singing of them. I hope
through a little study of these, to make clear the matter of Folk Rhyme
development, to the point of dropping the "sponse."
[music]
[music]
These simple little songs,--the first made up of five notes, and the
second of seven,--are typical Negro Play songs. I shall not describe the
simple play which accompanied them because that description would not
add to the knowledge of the evolution under consideration.
At a Negro Evening Entertainment several such songs would be sung and
played, and some individual would be chosen to lead or sing the "calls"
of each of the songs. The 'sponses in some cases were meaningless
utterances, like "Holly Dink," given in the first song recorded, while
others were made up of some sentence like "'Tain't Gwineter Rain No
Mō'!" found in the second song given. The "sponses" were not expected
to bear a special continuous relation in thought to the "calls." Indeed
no one ever thought of the 'sponses as conveyers of thought, whether
jumbled syllables or sentences. The songs went under the names of the
various sponses. Thus the first Play Song recorded was known as "Holly
Dink," and the second as "'Tain't Gwineter Rain No Mō'."
The playing and singing of each of these songs commonly went on
continuously for a quarter of an hour or more. This being the case, we
scarcely need add that the leader of the Play Song had both his memory
and ingenuity taxed to their utmost, in devising enough "calls" to last
through so long a period of time of continuous playing and singing. The
reader will notice under both of the Play Songs recorded, that I have
written under "(a)" two stanzas of prose "calls." I would convey the
thought to the reader, by these illustrations, that the one singing the
"calls" was at liberty to use, and did use any prose sentence that would
fit in with the "call" measures of the song.
Of course these prose "calls" had to be rhythmic to fit into the
measures, but much freedom was allowed in respacing the time allotted to
notes, and in the redivision of the notes in the "fitting in" process.
Even these prose stanzas bore the mark of Rhyme to the Negro fancy. The
reader will notice that, where the "call" is in prose, it is always
repeated, and thus the line in fancy rhymed with itself. Examples as
found in our Second Play Song:
"Hail storm, frosty night.
Hail storm, frosty night."
Now, it was considered by Negroes, in the days gone by, something of an
accomplishment for a leader to be able to sing "calls," for so long a
time, when they bore some meaning, and still a greater accomplishment
to sing the calls both in rhyme and with meaning. This led each
individual to rhyme his calls as far as possible because leaders were
invited to lead songs during an evening's entertainment, largely in
accordance with their ability, and thus those desiring to lead were
compelled to make attainment in both rhyme and meaning. Now, the reader
will notice under "Holly Dink," heading "(b)," "I shō' loves Miss
Donie." This is a part of the opening line of our Negro Rhyme, "Likes
and Dislikes." I would convey the thought to the reader that this whole
Rhyme, and any other Negro Rhyme which would fit into a 2/4 music
measure, could be, and was used by the Play Song leader in singing the
calls of "Holly Dink." Thus a leader would lead such a song; and by
using one whole Rhyme after another, succeed in rhyming the calls for a
quarter of an hour. If his Rhymes "gave out," he used rhythmic prose
calls; and since these did not need to have meaning, his store was
unlimited. Just as any Rhyme which could be fitted into a 2/4 music
measure would be used with "Holly Dink," so any Rhyme which could be
fitted into a 4/4 measure would be used with the "'Tain't Gwineter Rain
No Mō'." Illustrations given under "(b)" and "(c)" under the last
mentioned song are--"Promises of Freedom," and "Hawk and Buzzard."
Since all Negro Songs with a few exceptions were written in 4/4 measures
and 2/4 measures, and Negro rhymed "calls" were also written in the same
way, the rhymed "calls" which may have originated with one song were
transferred to, and used with other songs. _Thus the rhymed "calls"
becoming detached for use with any and all songs into which they could
be fitted, gave rise to the multitude of Negro Folk Rhymes, a small
fragment of which multitude is recorded in our collection._ Negro Dances
and Dance Rhymes were both constructed in 2/4 and 4/4 measures, and the
Rhymes were propagated for that same reason. Rhymes, once detached from
their original song or dance, were learned, and often repeated for mere
pastime, and thus they were transmitted to others as unit compositions.
We have now seen how detached rhymed "calls" made our Negro Folk Rhymes.
Next let us consider how and why whole little "poems" arose in a Play
Song. One will notice in reading Negro Folk Rhymes that the larger
number of them tell a little story or give some little comic
description, or some little striking thought. Since all the Rhymes had
to be memorized to insure their continued existence, and since Memory
works largely through Association; one readily sees that the putting of
the Rhymes into a story, descriptive, or striking thought form, was the
only thing that could cause their being kept alive. It was only through
their being composed thus that Association was able to assist Memory in
recalling them. Those carrying another form carried their death warrant.
Now let us look a little more intimately into how the Rhymes were
probably composed. In collecting them, I often had the same Rhyme given
to me over and over again by different individuals. Most of the Rhymes
were given by different individuals in fragmentary form. In case of all
the Rhymes thus received, there would always be a half stanza, or a
whole stanza which all contributors' versions held in common. As
examples: in "Promises of Freedom," all contributors gave the lines--
"My ole Mistiss promise me
W'en she died, she'd set me free."
In "She Hugged Me and Kissed Me," the second stanza was given by all. In
"Old Man Know-All," the first two lines of the last stanza came from all
who gave the Rhyme. The writer terms these parts of the individual
Rhymes, seemingly known to all who know the "poems," _key verses_. The
very fact that the key verses, only, are known to all, seems to me to
warrant the conclusion that these were probably the first verses made in
each individual Rhyme. Now when an individual made such a key verse, one
can easily see that various singers of "calls" using it would attempt to
associate other verses of their own making with it in order to remember
them all for their long "singing Bees." The story, the description, and
the striking thought furnished convenient vehicles for this association
of verses, so as to make them easy to keep in memory. This is why the
verses of many singers of "Calls" finally became blended into little
poem-like Rhymes.
I have pointed out "call" and "sponse," in Rhymes, and have shown how,
through them, in song, the form of the Negro Rhyme came into existence.
But many of the Pastime Rhymes apparently had no connection with the
Play or the Dance. I must now endeavor to account for such Rhymes as
these.
In order to do this, I must enter upon the task of trying to show how
"call" and "sponse" originated.
The origin of "call" and "sponse" is plainly written on the faces of the
rhymes of the Social Instinct type. Read once again the following rhyme
recorded in our collection under the caption of "Antebellum Courtship
Inquiry"--
(He)--"Is you a flyin' lark, or a settin' dove?"
(She)--"I'se a flyin' lark, my Honey Love."
(He)--"Is you a bird o' one fedder, or a bird o' two?"
(She)--"I'se a bird o' one fedder, w'en it comes to you."
(He)--"Den Mam:
"I has desire an' quick temptation
To jine my fence to yō' plantation."
This is primitive courtship; direct, quick, conclusive. It is the crude
call of one heart, and the crude response of another heart. The two
answering and blending into one, in the primitive days, made a rhymed
couplet--one. It is "call" and "sponse," born to vibrate in
complementary unison with two hearts that beat as one. "Did all Negroes
carry on courtship in this manner in olden days?" No, not by any means.
Only the more primitive by custom, and otherwise used such forms of
courtship. The more intelligent of those who came out of slavery had
made the white man's customs their own, and laughed at such crudities,
quite as much as we of the present day. The writer thinks his ability
to recall from childhood days a clear remembrance of many of these
crude things is due to the fact that he belonged to a Negro family that
laughed much, early and late, at such things. But the simple forms of
"call" and "sponse" were used much in courtship by the more primitive.
This points out something of the general origin of "call" and "sponse"
in Social Instinct Rhymes, but does not account for their origin in
other types of Rhymes. I now turn attention to those.
About eighteen years ago I was making a Sociological investigation for
Tuskegee Institute, which carried me into a remote rural district in the
Black Belt of Alabama. In the afternoon, when the Negro laborers were
going home from the fields and occasionally during the day, these
laborers on one plantation would utter loud musical "calls" and the
"calls" would be answered by musical responses from the laborers on
other plantations. These calls and responses had no peculiar
significance. They were only for whatever pleasure these Negroes found
in the cries and apparently might be placed in a parallel column
alongside of the call of a song bird in the woods being answered by
another. Dr. William H. Sheppard, many years a missionary in Congo,
Africa, upon inquiry, tells me that similar calls and responses obtain
there, though not so musical. He also tells me that the calls have a
meaning there. There are calls and responses for those lost in the
forest, for fire, for the approach of enemies, etc. These Alabama Negro
calls, however, had no meaning, and yet the calls and responses so
fitted into each other as to make a little complete tune.
Now, I had heard "field" calls all during my early childhood in
Tennessee, and these also were answered by men in adjoining fields. But
the Tennessee calls and responses which I remembered had no kinship
which would combine them into a kind of little completed song as was the
case with the Alabama calls and responses.
Again, in Tennessee when a musical call was uttered by the laborers in
one field, those in the other fields around would often use identically
the same call as a response. The Alabama calls and responses were short,
while those of Tennessee were long.
I am listing an Alabama "call" and "response." I regret that I cannot
recall more of them. I am also recording three Tennessee calls or
responses (for they may be called either). Then I am recording a fourth
one from Tennessee, not exactly a call, but partly call and partly song.
The reason for this will appear later. By a study of these I think we
can pretty reasonably make a final interesting deduction as to the
general origin of "call" and "sponse" in the form of the types of Rhyme
not already discussed.
In the Alabama Field Call and response one cannot help seeing a
counterpart in music of the "call" and "sponse" in the words of the
types of Rhymes already discussed.
ALABAMA FIELD CALL AND RESPONSE
[music]
TENNESSEE FIELD CALLS OR RESPONSES
[music]
If one looks at Number 1 under the Tennessee calls or responses, there
is nothing to indicate especially that it was ever other than the whole
as it is here written. But when he looks at Number 2 under Tennessee
calls or responses he is struck with the remarkable fact that it changes
right in the midst from the rhythm of the 9/8 measure to that of the 6/8
measure. Now if there be any one characteristic which is constant in
Negro music it is that the rhythm remains the same throughout a given
production. In a very, very few long Negro productions I have known an
occasional change in the time, but _never_ in a musical production
consisting of a few measures. The only reasonable explanation to be
offered for the break in the time of Number 2, as a Negro production, is
that it was originally a "call" and "response"; the "call" being in a
9/8 measure and the "response" being in a 6/8 measure. Here then we have
"call" and "sponse." It would look as if the Negroes in Tennessee had
combined the "calls" and "sponses" into one and had used them as a
whole. When we accept this view all the differences, between the Alabama
and Tennessee productions, before mentioned are accounted for. Then
looking again at Number 1 under Tennessee calls or responses, one sees
that it would conveniently divide right in the middle to make a "call"
and "sponse." Now look at Number 3 under Tennessee calls. It was usually
cried off with the syllable _ah_ and would easily divide in the middle.
I remember this "call" very distinctly from my childhood because the men
giving it placed the thumb upon the larynx and made it vibrate
longitudinally while uttering the cry. The thumb thus used produced a
peculiar screeching and rattling tone that hardly sounded human. But the
words "I want a piece of hoecake, etc.," as recorded under the "call,"
were often rhymed off in song with it. Thus we trace the form of "call"
and "sponse" from the friendly musical greeting between laborers at a
distance to the place of the formation of a crude Rhyme to go with it. I
would have the reader notice that these words finally supplied were in
"call" and "sponse" form. The idea is that one individual says: "I want
a piece of hoecake, I want a piece o' bread," and another chimes in by
way of response: "Well, I'se so tired and hongry dat I'se almos' dead."
"Ole Billie Bawlie" found as Number 4 was a little song which was used
to deride men who had little ability musically to intonate "calls" and
"sponses." The name "Bawlie" was applied to emphasize that the
individual bawled instead of sounding pleasant notes. It is of interest
to us because it is a mixture of Rhyme and Field "call" and completes
the connecting links along the line of Evolution between the "call" and
"sponse" and the Rhyme.
Wherever one thing is derived from another by process of Evolution,
there is the well known biological law that there ought to be every
grade of connecting link between the original and the last evolved
product. The law holds good here in our Rhymes. If this last statement
holds good then the law must be universal. May we be permitted to
digress enough to show that the law is universal because, though it is a
law whose biological phase has been long recognized, not much attention
has been paid to it in other fields.
It holds good in the world of inanimate matter. There are three general
classes of chemical compounds: Acids, bases, and salts. But along with
these three general classes are found all kinds of connecting links:
Acid salts, basic salts, hydroxy acids, etc.
It holds good in the animal and plant worlds. Looking at the ancestors
of the horse in geological history we find that the first kind of horse
to appear upon the earth was the Œohippus. He had four toes on the
hind foot and three on the front one. Through a long period of
development, the present day one-toed horse descended from this
many-toed primitive horse. There is certainty of the line of descent of
the horse because all the connecting links have been discovered in
fossil form, between the primitive horse and the present day horse.
Plants in like manner show all kinds of connecting links.
The law holds sway in the world of language; and that is the world with
which we are concerned here. The state of Louisiana once belonged to the
French; now it belongs to an English-speaking people. If one goes among
the Creoles in Louisiana he will find a very few who speak almost
Parisian French and very poor English. Then he will find a very large
number who speak a pure English and a very poor French. Between these
classes he will find those speaking all grades of French and English.
These last mentioned are the connecting links, and the connecting links
bespeak a line of evolution where those of French descent are gradually
passing over to a class which will finally speak the English language
exclusively.
Now let us turn our attention again directly to the discussion of the
evolution of Negro Folk Rhymes. One can judge whether or not he has
discovered the correct line of descent of the Rhymes by seeing whether
or not he has all the connecting links requisite to the line of
evolution. I think it must be agreed that I have given every type of
connecting link between common Field "calls" and "sponses," and
incipient crude Negro Rhymes. They set the mold for the other general
Negro Rhymes not hitherto discussed.
If the reader will be kind enough to apply the test of connecting links
to the Play and other Rhymes already discussed, he will find that the
reactions will indicate that we have traced their correct lines of
origin and descent.
The spirit of "call" and "sponse" hovers ghost-like over the very
thought of many Negro Rhymes. In "Jaybird," the first two lines of each
stanza are a call in thought, while the last two lines are a "sponse" in
thought to it. The same is true of "He Is My Horse," "Stand Back, Black
Man," "Bob-White's Song," "Promises of Freedom," "The Town and the
Country Bird," and many others.
Then "call" and "sponse" looms up in the midst in thought between stanza
and stanza in many Rhymes. Good examples are found in "The Great Owl's
Song," "Sheep and Goat," "The Snail's Reply," "Let's Marry--Courtship,"
"Shoo! Shoo!" "When I Go to Marry," and many others.
"Call" and "sponse" even runs, at least in one case, between whole
Rhymes. "I Wouldn't Marry a Black Girl" as a "call" has for its
"sponse": "I Wouldn't Marry a Yellow or a White Negro Girl." The Rhyme
"I'd Rather Be a Negro Than a Poor White Man" is a "sponse" to an
imaginary "call" that the Negro is inferior by nature.
After some consideration, as compiler of the Negro Rhymes, I thought I
ought to say something of their rhyming system, but before doing this I
want to consider for a little the general structure of a stanza in Negro
Rhymes.
Of course there is no law, but the number of lines in a stanza of
English poetry is commonly a multiple of two. The large majority of
Negro Rhymes follows this same rule, but, even in case of these, the
lines are so unsymmetrical that they make but the faintest approach to
the commonly accepted standards. Then there are Rhymes with stanzas of
three lines and there are those with five, six, and seven lines. This is
because the imaginary music measure is the unit of measurement instead
of feet, and the stanzas are all right so long as they run in consonance
with the laws governing music measures and rhythm. In a tune like "Old
Hundred" commonly used in churches as a Doxology, there are four
divisions in the music corresponding with the four lines of the stanza.
Each division is called, in music, a Phrase. Two of these Phrases make a
Phrase Group and two Phrase Groups make a Period. Now when one moves
musically through a Phrase Group his sense of rhythm is partially
satisfied and when he has moved through a Period the sense of Rhythm is
entirely satisfied.
When one reads the three line stanzas of Negro Folk Rhymes he passes
through a music Period and thus the stanza satisfies in its rhythm.
Example:
"Bridle up er rat,
Saddle up er cat,
An' han' me down my big straw hat."
Here the first two lines are a Phrase each and constitute together a
Phrase Group. The third line is made up of two Phrases, or a Phrase
Group in itself. Thus this third line along with the first two makes a
Music Period and the whole satisfies our rhythmic sense though the lines
are apparently odd. In all Negro Rhymes, however odd in number and
however ragged may seem the lines, the music Phrases and Periods are
there in such symmetry as to satisfy our sense of rhythm.
I now turn attention to the rhyming of the lines in Negro verse. The
ordinary systems of rhyming as set forth by our best authors will take
in most Negro Rhymes. Most of them are Adjacent and Interwoven Rhymes.
There are five systems of rhyming commonly used in the white man's
poetry but the Negro Rhyme has nine systems. Here again we find a
parallelism, as in case of music scales, etc. Five in each system are
the same. The ordinary commonly accepted systems are:
a Where the adjacent lines rhyme by twos. We
a call it "Adjacent rhymes" or a "Couplet."
a
b Where the alternating lines rhyme we
a call it "Alternate" or "Interwoven Rhyme."
b
a Where lines 1 and 4, and 2 and 3 rhyme
b respectively with each other. This is called
b "Close Rhyme."
a
a Where in a stanza of four lines, lines 2 and
b 4 only rhyme. This is sometimes also called
c "Alternate Rhyme."
b
a
a Where in a stanza of four lines 1, 2 and 4
b rhyme. This is called "Interrupted Rhyme."
a
I now beg to offer a system of classification in rhyming which will
include all Negro Rhymes. I shall insert the ordinary names in
parenthesis along with the new names wherever the system coincides with
the ordinary system for white men's Rhymes. The only reason for not
using the old names exclusively in these places is that nomenclature
should be kept consistent in any proposed classification, so far as that
is possible.
In classifying the rhyming of the lines or verses I have borrowed terms
from the gem world, partly because the Negro hails from Africa, a land
of gems; and partly because the verses bear whatever beauty there might
have been in his crude crystalized thoughts in the dark days of his
enslavement.
I present herewith the outline and follow it with explanations:
_Class_ _Systems_
I Rhythmic Solitaire (a) Rhythmic measured lines
II Rhymed Doublet (a) Regular (Adjacent Rhyme)
(b) Divided (Includes Close Rhyme)
(c) Supplemented
III Rhyming Doublet (a) Regular (Includes Alternate Rhyme)
(b) Inverted (Close Rhyme)
IV Rhymed Cluster (a) Regular
(b) Divided (Interrupted Rhyme)
(c) Supplemented
_I a._ Rhythmic Solitaire, Rhythmic measured lines. In many Rhymes there
is a rhythmic line dropped in here and there that doesn't rhyme with
any other line. They are rhythmic like the other lines and serve equally
to fill out the music Phrases and Periods. These are the Rhythmic
Solitaires and because of their solitaire nature it follows that there
is only one system. Examples are found in the first line of each stanza
of "Likes and Dislikes"; in the second line of each stanza of "Old Aunt
Kate;" in lines five and six of each stanza of "I'll Wear Me a Cotton
Dress," in lines three and four of the "Sweet Pinks Kissing Song," etc.
The Rhythmic Solitaires do not seem to have been largely used by Negroes
for whole compositions. Only one whole Rhyme in our collection is
written with Rhythmic Solitaires. That Rhyme is: "Song to the Runaway
Slave." This Rhyme is made up of blank verse as measured by the white
man's standard.
_II a._ The Regular Rhymed Doublet. This is the same as our common
Adjacent Rhyme. There are large numbers of Negro Rhymes which belong to
this system. The "Jaybird" is a good example.
_II b._ The Divided Rhymed Doublet. It includes Close Rhyme and there
are many of this system. In ordinary Close Rhyme one set of rhyming
lines (two in number) is separated by two intervening lines, but this
"Rhyming Couplet" in Negro Rhymes may be separated by three lines as in
"Bought Me a Wife," where the divided doublet consists of lines 3 and 7.
Then the Divided Rhymed Doublet may be separated by only one line, as in
"Good-by, Wife," where the Doublet is found in lines 5 and 7.
_II c._ The Supplemented Rhymed Doublet. It is illustrated by "Juba"
found in our collection. The words "Juba! Juba!" found following the
second line of each stanza, are the supplement. I shall take up the
explanation of Supplemented Rhyme later, since the explanation goes with
all Supplemented Rhyme and not with the Doublet only. I consider the
Supplement one of the things peculiarly characteristic of Negro Rhyme.
The following stanza illustrates such a Supplemented Doublet:
"Juba jump! Juba sing!
Juba cut dat Pidgeon's Wing! Juba! Juba!"
Representing such a rhyming by letters we have
(a
(a-x
_III._ The Rhyming Doublet. It is generally made up of two consecutive
lines not rhyming with each other but so constructed that one of the
lines will rhyme with one line of another Doublet similarly constructed
and found in the same stanza.
_III a._ The Regular Rhyming Doublet. It is the same as our common
interwoven rhyme and is very common among Negro Rhymes. There is one
peculiar Interwoven Rhyme found in our collection; it is "Watermelon
Preferred." In it the second Rhyming Doublet is divided by a kind of
parenthetic Rhythmic Solitaire.
_III b._ The Inverted Rhyming Doublet. It is the same as our ordinary
Close Rhyme.
The writer had expected to find the Supplemented Rhyming Doublet among
Negro Rhymes but peculiarly enough it does not seem to exist.
_IV a._ The Regular Rhymed Cluster. It consists of three consecutive
lines in the same stanza which rhyme. An example is found in "Bridle Up
a Rat," one of whose stanzas we have already quoted. It is represented
by the lettering
(a
(a
(a
_IV. b._ The Divided Rhymed Cluster. It includes ordinary Interrupted
Rhyme--with the lettering
(a An example is found in the Ebo or
(a Guinea Rhyme "Tree Frogs."
(b
(a
But in Negro Folk Rhymes two lines may divide the Rhymed Cluster
instead of one. An example of this is found in "Animal Fair," whose
rhyming may be represented by the lettering
(a
(a
(b
(b
(a
_IV c._ The Supplemented Rhymed Clusters. They are well represented in
Negro Rhymes. Some have a single supplement as in "Negroes Never Die,"
whose rhyming is lettered
(a
(a
(a-x
Some have double supplements as in "Frog Went a-Courting" whose rhyming
is lettered
(a-x
(a
(a-x
Now Negroes did not retain, permanently, meaningless words in their
Rhymes. The Rhymes themselves were "calls" and had meaning. The
"sponses," such as "Holly Dink," "Jing-Jang," "Oh, fare you well,"
"'Tain't gwineter rain no more," etc., that had no meaning, died year
after year and new "sponses" and songs came into existence.
Let us see what these permanently retained seemingly senseless
Supplements mean.
In "Frog Went a-Courting" we see the Supplement "uh-huh! uh-huh!" It is
placed in the midst to keep vividly before the mind of the listener the
ardent singing of the frog in Spring during his courtship season, while
we hear a recounting of his adventures. It is to this Simple Rhyme what
stage scenery is to the Shakespearian play or the Wagnerian opera. It
seems to me (however crude his verse) that the Negro has here suggested
something new to the field of poetry. He suggests that, while one
recounts a story or what not, he could to advantage use words at the
same time having no bearing on the story to depict the surroundings or
settings of the production. The gifted Negro poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar,
has used the supplement in this way in one of his poems. The poem is
called "A Negro Love Song." The little sentence, "Jump back, Honey, jump
back," is thrown in, in the midst and at the end of each stanza.
Explaining it, the following is written by a friend, at the heading of
this poem:
"During the World's Fair he (Mr. Dunbar) served for a short time as a
hotel waiter. When the Negroes were not busy they had a custom of
congregating and talking about their sweethearts. Then a man with a tray
would come along and, as the dining-room was frequently crowded, he
would say when in need of passing room, 'Jump back, Honey, jump back.'
Out of the commonplace confidences, he wove the musical little
composition--'A Negro Love Song.'"
Now, this line, "Jump back, Honey, jump back," was used by Mr. Dunbar to
recall and picture before the mind the scurrying hotel waiter as he
bragged to his fellows of his sweetheart and told his tales of
adventure. It is the "stage scenery" method used by the slave Negro
verse maker. Mr. Dunbar uses this style also in "A Lullaby,"
"Discovered," "Lil' Gal" and "A Plea." Whether he used it knowingly in
all cases, or whether he instinctively sang in the measured strains of
his benighted ancestors, I do not know.
The Supplement was used in another way in Negro Folk Dance Rhymes. I
have already explained how the Rhymes were used in a general way in the
Dance. Let us glance at the Dance Rhyme "Juba" with its Supplement,
"Juba! Juba!" to illustrate this special use of the Supplement. "Juba"
itself was a kind of dance step. Now let us imagine two dancers in a
circle of men to be dancing while the following lines are being patted
and repeated:
"Juba Circle, raise de latch,
Juba dance dat Long Dog Scratch, Juba! Juba!"
While this was being patted and repeated, the dancers within the circle
described a circle with raised foot and ended doing a dance step called
"Dog Scratch." Then when the Supplement "Juba! Juba!" was said the whole
circle of men joined in the dance step "Juba" for a few moments. Then
the next stanza would be repeated and patted with the same general order
of procedure.
The Supplement, then, in the Dance Rhyme was used as the signal for all
to join in the dance for a while at intervals after they had witnessed
the finished foot movements of their most skilled dancers.
The Supplement was used in a third way in Negro Rhymes. This is
illustrated by the Rhyme, "Anchor Line" where the Supplement is "Dinah."
This was a Play Song and was commonly used as such, but the Negro boy
often sang such a song to his sweetheart, the Negro father to his child,
etc. When such songs were sung on other occasions than the Play, the
name of the person to whom it was being sung was often substituted for
the name Dinah. Thus it would be sung
"I'se gwine out on de Anchor Line--Mary," etc.
The Supplement then seems to have been used in some cases to broaden the
scope of direct application of the Rhyme.
The last use of the Supplement to be mentioned is closely related in its
nature to the "stage scenery" use already mentioned. This kind of
Supplement is used to depict the mental condition or attitude of an
individual passing through the experiences being related. Good examples
are found in "My First and My Second Wife" where we have the
Supplements, "Now wusn't I sorrowful in mind," etc.; and in "Stinky
Slave Owners" with its Supplements "Eh-Eh!" "Sho-sho!" etc.
The Negro Rhymes here and there also have some kind of little
introductory word or line to each stanza. I consider this also something
peculiar to Negro Rhyme. I have named these little introductory words or
sentences the "Verse Crown." They are receivers into which verses are
set and serve as dividing lines in the production. As the reader knows,
the portion of the ring which receives the gems and sets them into a
harmonious whole is called the "Crown." Having borrowed the terms
Solitaire, Doublet, etc., for the verses, the name for these
introductory words and lines automatically became "Verse Crown."
Just as I have figuratively termed the Supplements in one place "stage
scenery," so I may with equal propriety term the "Verse Crown" the
"rise" or the "fall" of the stage curtain. They separate the little Acts
of the Rhymes into scenes. As an example read the comic little Rhyme "I
Walked the Roads." The word "Well" to the first stanza marks the raising
of the curtain and we see the ardent Negro boy lover nonsensically
prattling to the one of his fancy about everything in creation until he
is so tired that he can scarcely stand erect. The curtain drops and
rises with the word "Den." In this, the second scene, he finally gets
around to the point where he makes all manner of awkward protestations
of love. The hearer of the Rhyme is left laughing, with a sort of
satisfactory feeling that possibly he succeeded in his suit and possibly
he didn't. Among the many examples of Rhymes where verse crowns serve as
curtains to divide the Acts into scenes may be mentioned "I Wish I Was
an Apple," "Rejected by Eliza Jane," "Courtship," "Plaster," "The Newly
Weds," and "Four Runaway Negroes."
Though the stanzas in Negro Rhymes commonly have just one kind of
rhyming, in some cases as many as three of the systems of rhyming are
found in one stanza. I venture to suggest the calling of those with one
system "Simple Rhymed Stanzas;" those with two, "Complex Rhymed
Stanzas;" those with more than two "Complicated Complex Rhymed Stanzas."
I next call attention to the seeming parodies found occasionally among
Negro Rhymes. The words of most Negro parodies are such that they are
not fit for print. We have recorded three: "He Paid Me Seven," Parody on
"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep," and Parody on "Reign, Master Jesus,
Reign." We can best explain the nature of the Negro Parody by taking
that beautiful and touching well-known Jubilee song, "Steal Away to
Jesus" and briefly recounting the story of its origin. Its history is
well known. We hope the reader will not be disappointed when we say that
this song is a parody in the sense in which Negroes composed and used
parodies.
The words around which the whole song ranges itself are "Steal away to
Jesus, I hain't got long to stay here." Now the slave Negroes on the far
away plantations of the South occasionally met in the dead of night in
some secluded lonely spot for a religious meeting even when they had
been forbidden to do so by their masters. So they made up this song,
"Steal away to Jesus, I hain't got long to stay here." Late in the
afternoons when the slaves on any plantation sang it, it served as a
notice to slaves on other plantations that a secret religious meeting
was to be held that night at the place formerly mutually agreed upon for
meetings.
Now here is where the parody comes in under the Negro standard: To the
slave master the words meant that his good, obedient slaves were only
studying how to be good and to get along peaceably, because they
considered, after all, that their time upon earth was short and not of
much consequence; but to the listening Negro it meant both a
notification of a meeting and slaves disobedient enough to go where they
wanted to go. To the listening master it meant that the Negro was
thinking of what a short time it would be before he would die and leave
the earth, but to the listening slaves it meant that he was thinking of
how short a time it would be before he left the cotton field for a
pleasant religious meeting. All these meanings were truly literally
present but the meaning apparent depended upon the viewpoint of the
listener. It was composed thus, so that if the master suspected the
viewpoint of the slave hearers, the other viewpoint, intended for him,
might be held out in strong relief.
Now let us consider the parodies recorded in our Collection. The Parody
on the beautiful little child prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep" is
but the bitter protest from the heart of the woman who, after putting
the little white children piously repeating this child prayer, "Now I
lay me down to sleep," in their immaculate beds, herself retired to a
vermin infested cabin with no time left for cleaning it. It was a tirade
against the oppressor but the comic, good-natured "It means nothing" was
there to be held up to those calling the one repeating it to task. The
parody on "Reign, Master Jesus, Reign!" when heard by the Master meant
only a good natured jocular appeal to him for plenty of meat and bread,
but with the Negro it was a scathing indictment of a Christian earthly
master who muzzled those who produced the food. "He Paid Me Seven" is a
mock at the white man for failing to practice his own religion but the
clown mask is there to be held up for safety to any who may see the
_real_ side and take offense.
Slave parodies, then, are little Rhymes capable of two distinct
interpretations, both of which are true. They were so composed that if a
slave were accused through one interpretation, he could and would
truthfully point out the other meaning to the accuser and thus escape
serious trouble.
Under all the classes of Negro Rhymes, with the exception of the one
Marriage Ceremony Rhyme, there were those which were sung and played on
instruments. Since instrumental music called into existence some of the
very best among Negro Rhymes it seems as if a little ought to be said
concerning the Negro's instruments. Banjos and fiddles (violins) were
owned only limitedly by antebellum Negroes. Those who owned them
mastered them to such a degree that the memory of their skill will long
linger. These instruments are familiar and need no discussion.
Probably the Negro's most primitive instrument, which he could call his
very own, was "Quills." It is mentioned in the story, "Brother Fox,
Brother Rabbit, and King Deer's Daughter" which I have already quoted at
some length. If the reader will notice in this story he will see, after
the singing of the first stanza by the rabbit and fox, a description in
these words, "Den de quills and de tr'angle, dey come in, an' den Br'er
Rabbit pursue on wid de call." Here we have described in the Negro's own
way the long form of instrumental music composition which we have
hitherto discussed, and "quills" and "tr'angles" are given as the
instruments.
In my early childhood I saw many sets of "Quills." They were short reed
pipes, closed at one end, made from cane found in our Southern
canebrakes. The reed pipes were made closed at one end by being so cut
that the bottom of each was a node of the cane. These pipes were
"whittled" square with a jack knife and were then wedged into a wooden
frame, and the player blew them with his mouth. The "quills," or reed
pipes, were cut of such graduated lengths that they constituted the
Negro's peculiar music Scale. The music intervals though approximating
those of the Caucasian scale were not the same. At times, when in a
reminiscent humor, I hum to myself some little songs of my childhood. On
occasions, afterwards, I have "picked out" some of the same tunes on the
piano. When I have done this I have always felt like giving its
production on the piano the same greeting that I gave a friend who had
once worn a full beard but had shaved. My greeting was "Hello, friend A;
I came near not knowing you."
"Quills" were made in two sets. They were known as a "Little Set of
Quills" and a "Big Set of Quills." There were five reeds in the Little
Set but I do not know how many there were in a Big Set. I think there
were more than twice as many as in a Little Set. I have inserted a cut
of a Little Set of "Quills." (Figure I.) The fact that I was in the
class of "The Little Boy Who Couldn't Count Seven" when I saw and
handled quills makes it necessary to explain how it comes that I am sure
of the number of "Quills" in a "Little Set." I recall the intricate tune
that could be played only by the performer's putting in the lowest
pitched note with his voice. I am herewith presenting that tune, and
"blocking out" the voice note there are only five notes left, thus I
know there were five "Quills" in the set. I thought a tune played on a
"Big Set" might be of interest and so I am giving one of those also. If
there be those who would laugh at the crudity of "Quills" it might not
be amiss to remember in justice to the inventors that "Quills"
constitute a pipe organ in its most rudimentary form.
[Illustration: Figure I A LITTLE SET OF QUILLS]
TUNE PLAYED ON A LITTLE SET OF QUILLS
[music]
TUNE PLAYED ON A BIG SET OF QUILLS
[music]
The "tr'angle" or triangle mentioned as the other primitive instrument
used by the rabbit and fox in serenading King Deer's family was only the
U-shaped iron clives which with its pin was used for hitching horses to
a plow. The antebellum Negro often suspended this U-shaped clives by a
string and beat it with its pin along with the playing on "Quills" much
after the order that a drum is beaten. These crude instruments produced
music not of unpleasant strain and inspired the production of some of
the best Negro Rhymes.
I would next consider for a little the origin of the subject matter
found in Negro Rhymes. When the Negro sings "Master Is Six Feet One Way"
or "The Alabama Way" there is no question where the subject matter came
from. But when he sings of animals, calling them all "Brother" or
"Sister," and "Bought Me a Wife," etc., the origin of the conception and
subject matter is not so clear. I now come to the question: From whence
came such subject matter?
First of all, Mr. Joel Chandler Harris, in his introduction to "Nights
with Uncle Remus," has shown that the Negro stories of our country have
counterparts in the Kaffir Tales of Africa. He therefore leaves strong
grounds for inference that the American Negroes probably brought the dim
outlines of their Br'er Rabbit stories along with them when they came
from Africa. I have already pointed out that some of the Folk Rhymes
belong to these Br'er Rabbit stories. Since the origin of the subject
matter of one is the origin of the subject matter of the other, it
follows that we are reasonably sure of the origin of such Folk Rhymes
because of the "counterpart" data presented by Mr. Harris. But I have
been fortunate enough recently to secure direct evidence that one of the
American Negro stories recorded by Mr. Harris came from Africa.
While collecting our Rhymes, I asked Dr. C. C. Fuller of the South
African Mission, at Chikore, Melsetter, Rhodesia, Africa, for an African
Rhyme in Chindau. I might add parenthetically: I have never seen
pictures of a cruder or more primitive people than these people who
speak Chindau. He obtained and sent me the Rhyme "The Turkey Buzzard"
found in our Foreign Section. It was given to him by the Reverend J. E.
Hatch of the South African General Mission. Along with this rhyme came
the following in his kind and obliging letter: "We thought the story of
how the Crocodile got its scaly skin might be of interest also":
"Why the Crocodile Has a Hard, Scaly Skin."
"Long ago the Crocodile had a soft skin like that of the other animals.
He used to go far from the rivers and catch animals and children and by
so doing annoyed the people very much. So one day when he was far away
from water, they surrounded him and set the grass on fire on every side,
so that he could not escape to the river without passing through the
fire. The fire overtook him and scorched and seared his back, so that
from that day his skin has been hard and scaly, and he no longer goes
far from the rivers."
This is about as literal an outline of the American Negro story "Why the
Alligator's Back is Rough" as one could have. The slight difference is
that the direct African version mixes people in with the plot. This
along with Mr. Harris's evidences practically establishes the fact that
the Negro animal story outlines came with the Negroes themselves from
Africa and would also render it practically certain that many animal
rhymes came in the same way since these Rhymes in many cases accompany
the stories.
Then there are Rhymes, not animal Rhymes, which seem to carry plainly in
their thought content a probable African origin. In the Rhyme, "Bought
Me a Wife," there is not only the mentioning of buying a wife, but there
is the setting forth of feeding her along with guineas, chickens, etc.,
out under a tree. Such a conception does not fit in with American slave
life but does fit into widely prevailing conditions found in Africa.
Read the last stanza of "Ration Day," where the slave sings of going
after death to a land where there are trees that bear fritters and where
there are ponds of honey. Surely there is nothing in America to suggest
such thoughts, but such thoughts might have come from Africa where
natives gather their fruit from the bread tree and dip it into honey
gathered from the forests.
Read "When My Wife Dies." This is a Dance Rhyme Song. When the Rhymer
chants in seemingly light vein in our hearing that he will simply get
another wife when his wife dies, we turn away our faces in disgust, but
we turn back almost amazed when he announces in the immediately
succeeding lines that his heart will sorrow when she is gone because
none better has been created among women. The dance goes on and we
almost see grim Death himself smile as the Rhymer closes his Dance Song
with directions not to bury him deep, and to put bread in his hand and
molasses at his feet that he may eat on the way to the "Promised Land."
If you had asked a Negro boy in the days gone by what this Dance Rhyme
Song meant, he would have told you that he didn't know, that it was
simply an old song he had picked up from somewhere. Thus he would go
right along thoughtlessly singing or repeating and passing the Rhyme to
others. The dancing over the dead and the song which accompanied it
certainly had no place in American life. But do you ask where there was
such a place? Get Dr. William H. Sheppard's "Presbyterian Pioneers in
Congo" and read on page 136 the author's description of the behavior of
the Africans in Lukenga's Land on the day following the death of one of
their fellow tribesmen. It reads in part as follows: "The next day
friends from neighboring villages joined with these and in their best
clothes danced all day. These dances are to cheer up the bereaved family
and to run away evil spirits." Dr. Sheppard also tells us that in one of
the tribes in Africa where he labored, a kind of funnel was pushed down
into the grave and down this funnel food was dropped for the deceased to
feed upon. I have heard from other missionaries to other parts of Africa
similar accounts. The minute you suppose the Rhyme "When My Wife Dies"
to have had its origin in Africa, the whole thought content is
explained. Of course the stanza concerning the pickling of the bones in
alcohol is probably of American origin but I doubt not that the thought
of the "key verses" came from Africa.
These Rhymes whose thought content I have just discussed I consider only
illustrative of the many Rhymes whose thought drift came from Africa.
Many of the Folk Rhymes fall under the heading commonly denominated
"Nature Rhymes." By actual count more than a hundred and fifty recorded
by the writer have something in their stanzas concerning some animal. I
do not think the makers of these Rhymes were makers of Nature Rhymes in
the ordinary sense of the term. It would really be more to the point to
call them "Animal Rhymes" instead of "Nature Rhymes." With the exception
of about a half dozen Rhymes which mention some kind of tree or plant,
all the other Rhymes with Nature allusions pertain to animals. The Uncle
Remus stories recorded by Joel Chandler Harris are practically all
animal stories. I have said in my foregoing discussion that the Negro
communed with Nature and she gave him Rhymes for amusement. This is
true, but when we say "communed" we simply express a vague intangible
something the existence of which lives somewhere in a kind of mental
fiction.
Though I was brought up with the Rhymes I make no pretensions that I
really know why so many of them were made concerning the animal world. I
have heard no Negro tradition on this point. I have thought much on it
and I now beg the reader to walk with me over the peculiar paths along
which my mind has swept in its search for the truth of this mystery of
Animal Rhyme.
Before the great American Civil War the Negro slave preachers could
not, as a class, read and they were taught their Bible texts by white
men, commonly their owners. The texts taught them embraced most of the
central truths of our Bible. The subjects upon which the antebellum
Negro preached, however, were comparatively few. Of course a very few
antebellum Negro preachers could read. In case of these individuals
their texts and subjects were scarcely limited by the "lids" of the
Bible. I heard scores of these men preach in my childhood days.
The following subjects embrace about all those known to the average of
these slave preachers. 1. Joshua. 2. Samson. 3. The Ark. 4. Jacob. 5.
Pharaoh and Moses. 6. Daniel. 7. Ezekiel--vision of the valley of dry
bones. 8. Judgment Day. 9. Paul and Silas in jail. 10. Peter. 11. John's
vision on the Isle of Patmos. 12. Jesus Christ--his love and his
miracles. 13. "Servants, obey your Masters."
Now it is strange enough that the ignorant slave, while adopting his
Master's religious topics, refused to adopt his hymns and proceeded to
make his own songs and to cluster all these songs in thought around the
Bible subjects with which he was acquainted. If the reader will get
nearly any copy of Jubilee Songs he will find that the larger number
group themselves about Jesus Christ and the others cluster about Moses,
Daniel, Judgment Day, etc., subjects partially known and handled by the
preachers in their sermons. There is just one exception. There is no
Jubilee Song on "Servants, obey your Masters." We shall leave for the
"feeble" imagination of the reader the reason why. The Negroes
practically left out of their Jubilee Songs, Jeremiah, Job, Abraham,
Isaac, Solomon, Samuel, Ezra, Mark, Luke, John, James, The Psalms, The
Proverbs, etc., simply because these subjects did not fall among those
taught them as preaching subjects.
Now let us consider for a while the Negro's religion in Africa. Turning
to Bettanny's "The World's Religions" we learn the following facts about
aboriginal African worship.
The Bushmen worshiped a Caddis worm and an antelope (a species of deer).
The Damaras believed that they and all living creatures descended from a
kind of tree and they worshiped that tree. The Mulungu worshiped
alligators and lion-shaped idols. The Fantis considered snakes and many
other animals messengers of spirits. The Dahomans worshiped snakes, a
silk tree, a poison tree and a kind of ocean god whom they called Hu.
Now turning our attention to Negro Folk Rhymes we find them clustering
around the animals of aboriginal African Folk worship. The Negro stories
recorded by Mr. Harris center around these animals also. In the Folk
Rhyme "Walk Tom Wilson" our hero steps on an alligator. In "The Ark" the
lion almost breaks out of his enclosure of palings. In one rhyme the
snake is described as descended from the Devil and then the Devil
figures prominently in many Rhymes. Then we have "Green Oak Tree
Rocky-o" answering to the tree worship.
I have placed in our collection of Rhymes a small foreign section
including African Rhymes. I have recorded precious few but those few are
enough to show two things. (1) That the Negro of savage Africa has the
rhyme-making habit and probably has always had it, and thus the American
Negro brought this habit with him to America. (2) That a small handful
from darkest Africa contains stanzas on the owl, the frog, and the
turkey buzzard just like the American rhymes.
Knowing that the Negro made rhymes in Africa, and knowing that he
centered his Jubilee Song words around his American Christian religion,
is it not reasonable to suppose that he centered his secular or African
Rhymes around his African religion? He must have done so unless he
changed all his rhyme-making habits after coming to America, for he
certainly clustered his American verse largely around his religion.
Assuming this to be true the large amount of animal lore in Negro rhyme
and story is at once explained.
Possibly the greatest hindrance to one's coming to this conclusion is
the fact that the Rabbit and some other animals found in Negro rhyme and
story do not appear in the records among those worshiped by aboriginal
Africans. The known record of the Africans' early religion covers only a
very few pages. Christians have not been willing to spend any time to
speak of in investigating the religions of the primitive and the lowly.
Thus if these animals were widely worshiped it would not be strange if
we should never have heard of it. Let us consider what is known,
however.
Taking up the matter of the rabbit Mr. John McBride, Jr., had a very
fine and lengthy discussion on "Br'er Rabbit in the Folk Tales of the
Negro and other Races" in _The Sewanee Review_, April, 1911. On page 201
of that journal's issue we find these words: "Among the Hottentots, for
example, there is a story in which the hare appears in the moon and of
which several versions are extant. The story goes that the moon sent the
hare to the earth to inform men that, as she died away and rose again,
so should all men die and again come to life," etc. I drop the story
here because so much of it suffices my purpose. It brings out the fact
that the African here had probably truly considered the Rabbit as a
messenger of the moon. Now the fact that the Hottentots were thus
talking in lore of receiving messages concerning immortality from the
moon means there must have been at least a time in their history when
they considered the Moon a kind of super-being, a kind of god.
I quote again from Dr. Sheppard's "Presbyterian Pioneers in Congo," page
113. "King Lukenga offers up a sacrifice of a goat or lamb on every new
moon. The blood is sprinkled on a large idol in his own fetich house, in
the presence of all his counselors. This sacrifice is for the
healthfulness of all the King's country, for the crops," etc.
I think after considering the foregoing one will see that there are
those of Africa who connect their worship with the moon. We learn also
that there are those who claim the rabbit to be the moon's messenger.
From this, if we should accept the theory for Animal Rhymes advanced, we
would easily see why the rabbit as a messenger of a god or gods would
figure so largely in Rhyme and in story. We also would easily see how
and why as a messenger of a god he would become "Brother Rabbit." If one
will read the little Rhyme "Jaybird" he will notice that the rhymer
places the intelligence of the rabbit above his own. Our theory accounts
for this.
I would next consider the frog, but I imagine I hear the reader saying:
"That is not a beginning. How about your bear, terrapin, wolf, squirrel,
etc.?"
Seeing that I am faced by so large an array of animals, I beg the reader
to walk with me through just one more little path of thought and with
his consent I shall leave the matter there.
We see, in two of our African Rhymes, lines on a buzzard and an owl; yet
these African natives do not worship these birds. The American Negro
children of my childhood repeated Folk Rhymes concerning the rabbit, the
fox, etc., without any thought whatever of worshiping them. These
American children had received the whole through dim traditional rhymes
and stories and engaged in passing them on to others without any special
thought. The uncivilized and the unlettered hand down everything by word
of mouth. Religion, trades, superstition, medicine, sense, and nonsense
all flow in the same stream and from this stream all is drunk down
without question. If therefore the Negro's rhyme-clustering habit in
America was the same as it had ever been and the centering of rhymes
about animals is due to a former worship of them in Africa, the verses
would include not only the animals worshiped in modern Africa but in
ancient Africa. The verses would take in animals included in any
accepted African religion antedating the comparatively recent religions
found there.
The Bakuba tribe have a tradition of their origin. Quoting from Dr.
Sheppard's book again, page 114, we have the following: "From all the
information I can gather, they (the Bakuba) migrated from the far North,
crossed rivers and settled on the high table land." Here is one
tradition, standing as a guide post, with its hand pointing toward
Egypt. A one fact premise practically never forms a safe basis for a
conclusion, but when we couple this tradition with the fact that, so far
as we know, men originated in Southwest Asia and therefore probably came
into Africa by way of the Isthmus of Suez, I think the case of the
Bakuba hand pointing toward a near Egyptian residence a strong one. Now
turn to your Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. X, ninth edition, with
American revisions and additions, to the article on "Glass," page 647.
Near the bottom of the second column on that page we read: "The
Phoenicians probably derived this knowledge of the art (of glass making)
from Egypt. * * * It seems probable that the earliest products of the
industry of Phoenicia in the art of glass making are the colored beads
which have been found in almost all parts of Europe, in India, and other
parts of Asia, and in _Africa_. The "aggry" beads so much valued by the
_Ashantees and other natives_ of that part of Africa which lies near the
Gold Coast, have _probably_ the same origin. * * * Their wide dispersion
may be referred with much probability to their having been objects of
barter between the Phoenician merchants and the barbarous inhabitants of
the various countries with which they traded." Here are evidences, then,
that the African in his prehistoric days traded with somebody who
bartered in beads of Phoenician or Egyptian make. I say Egyptian or
Phoenician because if the Phoenicians got this art from the Egyptians I
think it would be very difficult for those who lived thousands of years
afterward to be sure in which country a specific bead was made, the art
as practiced by one country being a kind of copy of the art as practiced
in the other country. With the historic record that the Phoenicians were
the great traders of the Ancient World our writers attributed the
carrying of the beads into Africa, among the natives, to the
Phoenicians. Without questioning these time-honored conclusions, we do
know that Egyptian caravans still make journeys into the interior of
Africa for the purpose of trade. Shall we think this trading practice on
the part of Egypt in Africa one of recent origin or probably one that
runs back through the centuries? I see no reason for believing this
trading custom to be other than an ancient one. If the ancient Egyptians
traded with the surrounding Africans and these Africans gradually
migrated South, as is stated in the Bakuba tradition, the whole matter
of how all kinds of animals got mixed into Negro Folk Rhymes by custom
becomes clear. It also will explain how animal worship got scattered
throughout Africa, for it is the unbroken history of the world that
traders of a race superior in attainment always somehow manage to carry
along their religion to the race inferior in attainment. The religious
emissaries generally follow along in the wake of the traders. If we make
the assumption, on the foregoing grounds, that the very ancient African
Negro got in touch with the religion of Ancient Egypt, then the
appearance of the frog, birds, etc., in Negro Rhyme is explained, for if
we read the lists of animal gods of Ancient Egypt and the animal states
through which spirits were supposed to pass, we have no trouble finding
the list of animals extolled in Negro rhyme and story.
If Negro Rhyme has always centered about Negro religion, then when the
Negro was brought to America and began changing his religion, he should
have had some songs or rhymes on the dividing line between the old and
the new. In other words, there ought to be connecting links between
"secular" Folk Rhymes and Jubilee Songs, songs that by nature partake of
both types. This must happen in order to be in accord with the law of
the presence of connecting links where evolution produces a new type
from an old one. By using the procedure under Mendel's law of mating
like descendants from a cross between two and by eliminating those who
do not reproduce constant to the type which we are trying to produce, we
can produce a new and constant type in the third succeeding generation
of descendants.
Now the Negro slave turned quickly in America from heathenism to
Christianity. This was accomplished through white Christians correcting
and eliminating all thoughts and productions which hovered on the border
line between heathen ideals and Christianity. They used the Mendelian
procedure of eliminating all crosses that did not give a product with
Christian characteristics and thus necessarily eliminated Rhymes or
songs of the connecting link type. They did a good thorough job but the
writer believes he sees two connecting links that escaped their
sensitive ears and sharp eyes. They are Jubilee songs; one is "Keep
inching along like a poor inch worm, Jesus will come by-and-by," the
other is "Go chain the lion down before the Heaven doors close."
The reader will recall that I have already shown that the worm and the
lion were connected with native African worship. Of course we all know
quite well that a "Caddis worm" is not an "Inch worm," but for a man
trying to turn from the old to the new, from idolatry to Christianity, a
closer relation than this might not be very comfortable neutral ground.
The following Folk Rhymes found in our collection might also pass for
connecting links: "Jawbone," "Outrunning the Devil," "How to Get to
Glory Land," "The Ark," "Destinies of Good and Bad Children," "How to
Keep or Kill the Devil," "Ration Day," and "When My Wife Dies." The
superstitions of the Negro Rhymes are possibly only fossils left in one
way or another by ancient native African worship.
In a few Rhymes the vice of stealing is either laughed at, or
apparently laughed at. Such Rhymes carry on their face a strictly
American slave origin. An example is found in "Christmas Turkey." If one
asks how I know its origin to be American, the answer is that the native
African had no such thing as Christmas and turkeys are indigenous to
America. In explanation of the origin of these "stealing" Rhymes I would
say that it was never the Negro slave's viewpoint that his hard-earned
productions righteously belonged to another. His whole viewpoint in all
such cases, where he sang in this kind of verse, is well summed up in
the last two lines of this little Rhyme itself:
"I tuck mysef to my tucky roos',
An' I brung _my_ tucky home."
To the Negro it was his turkey. This was the Negro slave view and
accounts for the origin and evolution of such verse. We leave to others
a fair discussion of the ethics and a righteous conclusion; only asking
them in fairness to conduct the discussion in the light of slave
conditions and slave surroundings.
In a few of the Folk Rhymes one stanza will be found to be longer than
any of the others. Now as to the origin of this, in the case of those
sung whose tunes I happen to know, the long stanza was used as a kind
of chorus, while the other stanzas were used as song "verses." I
therefore think this is probably true in all cases. The reader will note
that the long stanza is written first in many cases. This is because the
Negro habitually begins his song with the Chorus, which is just the
opposite to the custom of the Caucasian who begins his ordinary songs
with the verse. This appears then to be the possible genesis of stanzas
of unequal length.
I have written this little treatise on the use, origin, and evolution of
the Negro Rhyme with much hesitation. I finally decided to do it only
because I thought a truthful statement of fact concerning Negro Folk
Rhymes might prove a help to those who are expert investigators in the
field of literature and who are in search of the origin of all Folk
literature and finally of all literature. The Negro being the last to
come to the bright light of civilization has given or probably will give
the last crop of Folk Rhymes. Human processes being largely the same, I
hope that my little personal knowledge of the Negro Rhymes may help
others in the other larger literary fields.
I am hoping that it may help and I am penning the last strokes to record
my sincere desire that it may in no way hinder.
GENERAL INDEX
PART I
PAGE
A. B. C., 154
Alabama Way, The, 164
Anchor Line, 87
Animal Attire, 158
Animal Fair, 159
Animal Persecutors, 205
Antebellum Courtship Inquiry, 135
Antebellum Marriage Proposal, 137
Are You Careful, 203
Ark, The, 44
As I Went to Shiloh, 13
Aspiration, 159
Aunt Dinah Drunk, 53
Aunt Jemima, 107
Awful Harbingers, 149
Baa! Baa! Black Sheep, 27
Baby Wants Cherries, 181
Bad Features, 100
Banjo Picking, The, 21
Bat! Bat! 202
Bedbug, 96
Bitter Lovers' Quarrel, A, 127
Black-eyed Peas For Luck, 200
Blessings, 204
Blindfold Play Chant, 73
Bob-White's Song, 155
Bought Me a Wife, 145
Brag and Boast, 213
Bridle up a Rat, 157
Bring on your Hot Corn, 29
Brother Ben and Sister Sal, 46
Buck and Berry, 172
Buck-eyed Rabbit! Whoopee!, 175
Budget, A, 79
Bull Frog Put on the Soldier Clothes, 20
Butterfly, 182
Captain Coon, 176
Captain Dime, 5
Care in Bread-making, 112
Caught by the Witch Play, 74
Chicken in the Bread Tray, 7
Chicken Pie, 69
Children's Seating Rhyme, 179
Christmas Turkey, 98
Chuck Will's Widow Song, 156
Clandestine Letter, A, 136
Coffee Grows on White Folks' Trees, 107
College Ox, The, 112
Cooking Dinner, 156
Cotton-eyed Joe, 32
Courting Boy, The, 141
Courtship, 138
Cow Needs a Tail in Fly-time, The, 35
Crooked Nose Jane, 99
Crossing a Foot-Log, 109
Crossing the River, 6
Day's Happiness, A, 125
Deedle, Dumpling, 171
Destinies of Good and Bad Children, 200
Destitute Former Slave Owners, 97
Devilish Pigs, 24
Did You Feed My Cow? 78
Die in the Pig-Pen Fighting, 39
Dinah's Dinner Horn, 18
Do I Love You? 129
Does Money Talk?, 113
Don't Ask Me Questions, 63
Don't Sing before Breakfast, 186
Don't Tell All You Know, 214
Doodle-Bug, 174
Down in the Lonesome Garden, 89
Drinking Razor Soup, 211
Elephant, The, 116
End of Ten Little Negroes, The, 163
Fattening Frogs for Snakes, 97
Fed From the Tree of Knowledge, 212
Few Negroes by States, A, 117
Fine Plaster, A, 124
Fishing Simon, 177
Flap-jacks, 196
Forty-four, 71
Four Runaway Negroes; Whence They Came, 205
Fox and Geese, 40
Fox and Geese Play, 73
Fox and Rabbit Drinking Propositions, 111
Frightened Away from a Chicken-Roost, 95
Frog in a Mill (Guinea or Ebo Rhyme), 167
Frog Went a-Courting, 190
From Slavery, 162
Full Pocketbook, A, 99
Getting Ten Negro Boys Together, 184
Go to Bed, 175
Going To Be Good Slaves, 101
Good-by, Ring, 171
Good-by, Wife!, 148
Gooseberry Wine, 41
Goosie-Gander Play Rhyme, 75
Grasshopper Sense, 169
Grasshopper Sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine, 173
Gray and Black Horses, 45
Great Owl's Song, The, 151
Green Oak Tree! Rocky-o!, 81
Guinea Gall, 176
Half Way Doings, 120
Ham Beats all Meat, 67
Harvest Song, 57
Hated Blackbird and Crow, The, 183
Hawk and Buzzard, 75
Hawk and Chickens, 185
Hawk and Chickens Play, 74
He Is My Horse, 16
He Loves Sugar and Tea, 84
He Paid Me Seven (Parody), 122
He Will Get Mr. Coon, 28
Hear-say, 114
Here Comes a Young Man Courting, 85
Here I Stand, 153
Hoecake, 49
How to Get to Glory Land, 96
How to Keep or Kill The Devil, 104
How to Make it Rain, 101
How to Plant and Cultivate Seeds, 208
How to Please a Preacher, 117
Hunting Camp, The, 43
I am not Going to Hobo Any More, 70
I Love Somebody, 51
I Walked the Roads, 139
I Went down the Road, 50
I Wish I Was an Apple, 133
I Would not Marry a Black Girl, 56
I Would not Marry A Yellow Or A White Negro Girl, 63
I'd rather Be a Negro than a Poor White Man, 42
I'll Eat When I'm Hungry, 114
I'll Get You, Rabbit!, 116
I'll Wear Me a Cotton Dress, 118
I'm a "Round-Town" Gentleman, 108
If You Frown, 137
In '76, 178
In a Mulberry Tree, 158
In a Rush, 183
Independent, 209
Indian Flea, 12
Invited to Take the Escort's Arm, 135
It Is Hard to Love, 132
Jack and Dinah Want Freedom, 215
Jackson, Put that Kettle On!, 17
Jawbone, 12
Jaybird, 14
Jaybird Died with the Whooping Cough, 36
Joe and Malinda Jane, 4
John Henry, 105
Johnny Bigfoot, 93
Jonah's Band Party, 1
Juba, 9
Judge Buzzard, 16
Jump Jim Crow, 13
Kept Busy, 109
Kissing Song, 82
Kneel on This Carpet, 82
Last of Jack, The, 149
Learn to Count, 207
"Let's Marry" Courtship, 138
Likes and Dislikes, 76
Little Boy Who Couldn't Count Seven, 160
Little Dogs, 150
Little Negro Fly, The, 199
Little Pickaninny, A, 186
Little Red Hen, 37
Little Rooster, The, 29
Little Sister, Won't You Marry Me? 90
Little Sleeping Negroes, 187
Looking for a Fight, 118
Love Is Just a Thing of Fancy, 2
Lovers' Good-night, 129
Mamma's Darling, 188
Man of Words, A, 208
Master is Six Feet One Way, 40
Master Killed a Big Bull, 126
Master's "Stolen" Coat, The, 62
Me and my Lover, 132
Miss Blodger, 199
Miss Slippy Sloppy, 100
Miss Terrapin and Miss Toad, 162
Molly Cottontail, 8
Mother Says I am Six Years Old, 164
Mourning Slave Fiancees, 129
Mud-Log Pond, 185
Mule's Kick, The, 98
Mule's Nature, The, 108
My Baby, 180
My Dog, Cuff, 150
My Fiddle, 39
My First and my Second Wife, 147
My Folks and your Folks, 187
My Little Pig, 157
My Mule, 19
My Speckled Hen, 170
My Wonderful Travel, 55
Mysterious Face Washing, 174
Nashville Ladies, The, 106
Negro and the Policeman, The, 66
Negro Baker Man, 154
Negro Soldier's Civil War Chant, 115
Negroes Never Die, 11
Nesting, 180
Newly Weds, The, 144
No Room to Poke Fun, 99
Nobody Looking, 48
Off from Richmond, 15
Old Aunt Kate, 179
Old Black Gnats, The, 80
Old Gray Mink, 33
Old Hen Cackled, The, 50
Old Man Know-all, 211
Old Molly Hare, 22
Old Section Boss, The, 64
Old Woman in the Hills, The, 54
On Top of the Pot, 10
Opossum Hunt, An, 23
Origin of the Snake, The, 165
Our Old Mule, 112
Outrunning the Devil, 103
Page's Geese, 102
Parody--He Paid Me Seven, 122
Parody on "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep", 115
Parody on "Reign, Master Jesus! Reign!", 122
Paying Debts with Kicks, 184
Peep Squirrel, 78
Periwinkle, 201
Pig Tail, 153
Plaster, 60
'Possum up the Gum Stump, 3
Precious Things, 84
Presenting a Hat to Phoebe, 140
Pretty Little Girl, 172
Pretty Little Pink, 127
Pretty Pair of Chickens, A, 181
Pretty Polly Ann, 142
Promises of Freedom, 25
Rabbit Hash, 203
Rabbit Soup, 33
Raccoon and Opossum Fight, 31
Race-starter's Rhyme, A, 180
Raise a "Rucus" To-night, 90
Randsome Tantsome, 202
Rascal, The, 106
Ration Day, 38
Rattler, 46
Raw Head and Bloody Bones, 174
Redhead Woodpecker, 178
Rejected by Eliza Jane, 134
Request to Sell, A, 123
Roses Red, 128
Run, Nigger, Run!, 34
Sail Away, Ladies!, 20
Sallie, 87
Salt-rising Bread, 83
Sam Is a Clever Fellow, 151
Satan, 93
Self-control, 213
Sex Laugh, 102
Shake the Persimmons Down, 34
She Hugged Me and Kissed Me, 131
Sheep and Goat, 17
Sheep Shell Corn, 59
Shoo! Shoo!, 196
Short Letter, A, 113
Sick Wife, A, 55
Simon Slick's Mule, 47
Slave Marriage Ceremony Supplement, 143
Snail's Reply, The, 170
Song to the Runaway Slave, 88
Sparking or Courting, 136
Speak Softly, 214
Stand Back, Black Man, 10
Stealing a Ride, 188
Stick-a-ma-stew, 155
Still Water Creek, 2
Still Water Runs Deep, 214
Strange Brood, A, 166
Strange Family, A, 171
Strange Old Woman, A, 178
Strong Hands, 167
Sugar in Coffee, 30
Sugar Loaf Tea, 81
Susan Jane, 77
Susie Girl, 76
Suze Ann, 68
Sweet Pinks and Roses, 92
Tails, 5
Taking a Walk, 183
Teaching Table Manners, 197
Temperance Rhyme, 209
That Hypocrite, 210
"They Steal" Gossip, 110
This Sun is Hot, 108
Thrifty Slave, The, 94
To Win a Yellow Girl, 102
Tongue, The, 212
Too Much Watermelon, 182
Town Bird and the Country Bird, The, 166
Training the Boy, 201
Tree Frogs (Guinea or Ebo Rhyme), 168
Turkey Funeral, A, 111
T-U-Turkey, 6
Turtle's Song, The, 30
Two Sick Negro Boys, 173
Two Times One, 121
Uncle Jerry Fants, 109
Uncle Ned, 61
Vinie, 130
Walk, Talk, Chicken with your Head Pecked, 4
Walk, Tom Wilson, 68
Wanted: Cornbread and Coon, 37
War is On, The, 207
Washing Mamma's Dishes, 189
Watermelon Preferred, 110
We Are "All the Go", 52
We'll Stick to the Hoe, 123
What Will We Do for Bacon?, 185
When I Go to Marry, 144
When I Was a Little Boy, 168
When I Was a Roustabout, 145
When My Wife Dies, 26
Why Look at Me, 113
Why the Woodpecker's Head Is Red, 203
Wild Hog Hunt, 165
Wild Negro Bill, 94
Willie Wee, 189
Wind Bag, A, 101
Wooing, 140
Year of Jubilee, 58
You Had Better Mind Master, 126
You Have Made Me Weep, 128
You Love your Girl, 95
Young Master and Old Master, 169
FOREIGN SECTION INDEX
_African Rhymes_
Byanswahn-Byanswahn, 219
Near Waldo Teedo o mah nah mejai, 216
Sai Boddeoh Sumpun Komo, 218
The Frogs, 220
The Owl, 217
The Turkey Buzzard, 220
Tuba Blay, 217
_A Philippine Island Rhyme_, 227
_Trinidad Rhymes_
A Tom Cat, 226
Un Belle Marie Coolie, 225
_Jamaica Rhyme_
Buscher Garden, 222
_Venezuelan Rhymes_
A "Would Be" Immigrant, 224
Game Contestants' Song, 223
PART II
A Study in Negro Folk Rhymes, 228
COMPARATIVE STUDY INDEX
_Love Songs_
Bitter Lovers' Quarrel; One Side, 127
Courting Boy, The, 141
It Is Hard to Love, 132
I Wish I Was an Apple, 133
Lovers' Good-night, 129
Me and my Lover, 132
Mourning Slave Fiancees, 129
Pretty Polly Ann, 142
Rejected by Eliza Jane, 134
Roses Red, 128
She Hugged Me and She Kissed Me, 131
Vinie, 130
Wooing, 140
You Have Made Me Weep, 128
You Love your Girl, 95
_Dance Songs_
Ark, The, 44
Aunt Dinah Drunk, 53
Baa! Baa! Black Sheep, 27
Banjo Picking, 21
Brother Ben and Sister Sal, 46
Bull Frog Put on the Soldier Clothes, 20
Chicken Pie, 69
Cotton-eyed Joe, 32
Cow Needs a Tail in Fly-time, The, 35
Devilish Pigs, 24
Die in the Pig-Pen Fighting, 39
Dinah's Dinner Horn, 18
Don't Ask Me Questions, 63
Forty-four, 71
Fox and Geese, 40
Gooseberry Wine, 41
Gray and Black Horses, 45
Ham Beats All Meat, 67
He Is my Horse, 16
Hoecake, 49
I am not Going to Hobo Any More, 70
I Love Somebody, 51
I Went down the Road, 50
I Would not Marry a Black Girl, 56
I Would not Marry a Yellow or a White Negro Girl, 63
I'd rather Be a Negro than a Poor White Man, 42
Jack and Dinah Want Freedom, 215
Jaybird, 14
Jaybird Died with the Whooping Cough, 36
Little Red Hen, 37
Little Rooster, The, 29
Master is Six Feet One Way, 40
Master's "Stolen Coat," The, 62
My Fiddle, 39
My Mule, 19
My Wonderful Travel, 55
Negro and the Policeman, The, 66
Nobody Looking, 48
Off from Richmond, 15
Old Gray Mink, 33
Old Hen Cackled, The, 50
Old Molly Hare, 22
Old Section Boss, The, 64
Old Woman in the Hills, The, 54
Opossum Hunt, An, 23
Plaster, 60
'Possum up the Gum Stump, 3
Promises of Freedom, 25
Rabbit Soup, 33
Raccoon and Opossum Fight, 31
Ration Day, 38
Rattler, 46
Run, Nigger, Run! 34
Sail Away, Ladies! 20
Shake the Persimmons Down, 34
Sheep and Goat, 17
Sheep Shell Corn, 59
Sick Wife, A, 55
Simon Slick's Mule, 47
Sugar in Coffee, 30
Suze Ann, 68
Uncle Ned, 61
Walk, Tom Wilson, 68
Wanted: Cornbread and Coon, 37
We Are "All the Go", 52
When My Wife Dies, 26
Year of Jubilee, 58
_Animal and Nature Lore_
Animal Attire, 158
Animal Fair, 159
Animal Persecutors, 205
Awful Harbingers, 149
Bob-White's Song, 155
Bridle Up a Rat, 157
Buck and Berry, 172
Buck-eyed Rabbit! Whoopee! 175
Chuck Will's Widow Song, 156
Frog in a Mill, 167
Frog Went a-Courting, 190
Full Pocketbook, A, 99
Great Owl's Song, 151
Jaybird, 14
Judge Buzzard, 16
Last of Jack, The, 149
Little Dogs, 150
Man of Words, A, 208
Miss Terrapin and Miss Toad, 162
Molly Cottontail, 8
My Dog, Cuff, 150
My Speckled Hen, 170
Old Molly Hare, 22
Origin of the Snake, The, 165
Snail's Reply, The, 170
Strange Brood, A, 166
Tails, 5
Town Bird and the Country Bird, The, 166
Turtle's Song, The, 30
Why the Woodpecker's Head is Red, 203
_Nursery Rhymes_
A. B. C., 154
Alabama Way, The, 164
Animal Fair, 159
Are You Careful?, 203
Aspiration, 159
Awful Harbingers, 149
Baby Wants Cherries, 181
Bat! Bat!, 202
Black-eyed Peas for Luck, 200
Blessings, 204
Bob-White's Song, 155
Buck-eyed Rabbit! Whoopee!, 175
Butterfly, 182
Captain Coon, 176
Children's Seating Rhyme, 179
Chuck Will's Widow Song, 156
Cooking Dinner, 156
Crossing the River, 6
Deedle, Dumpling, 171
Destinies of Good and Bad Children, 200
Did You Feed My Cow?, 78
Don't Sing before Breakfast, 186
Doodle-Bug, 174
End of Ten Little Negroes, The, 163
Fishing Simon, 177
Flap-jacks, 196
Four Runaway Negroes; Whence They Came, 205
Frog Went a-Courting, 190
From Slavery, 162
Getting Ten Negro Boys Together, 184
Go to Bed, 175
Good-by, Ring, 171
Grasshopper Sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine, 173
Grasshopper-Sense, 169
Great Owl's Song, The, 151
Guinea Gall, 176
Hated Blackbird and Crow, The, 183
Hawk and Chickens, 185
Here I Stand, 153
In '76, 178
In a Mulberry Tree, 158
In a Rush, 183
Judge Buzzard, 16
Little Boy Who Couldn't Count Seven, 160
Little Dogs, 150
Little Negro Fly, The, 199
Little Pickaninny, A, 186
Little Sleeping Negroes, 187
Mamma's Darling, 188
Miss Blodger, 199
Miss Terrapin and Miss Toad, 162
Mother Says I am Six Years Old, 164
Mud-Log Pond, 185
My Baby, 180
My Dog, Cuff, 150
My Folks and your Folks, 187
My Little Pig, 157
My Speckled Hen, 170
Mysterious Face Washing, 174
Negro Baker Man, 154
Nesting, 180
Old Aunt Kate, 179
Origin of the Snake, The, 165
Paying Debts with Kicks, 184
Periwinkle, 201
Pig Tail, 153
'Possum up the Gum Stump, 3
Pretty Little Girl, 172
Pretty Pair of Chickens, A, 181
Rabbit Hash, 203
Rabbit Soup, 33
Race-Starter's Rhyme, A, 180
Randsome Tantsome, 202
Raw Head and Bloody Bones, 174
Redhead Woodpecker, 178
Sam is a Clever Fellow, 151
Shoo! Shoo!, 196
Stealing a Ride, 188
Stick-a-ma-stew, 155
Strange Family, A, 171
Strange Old Woman, A, 178
Strong Hands, 167
Tails, 5
Taking a Walk, 183
Teaching Table Manners, 197
Too Much Watermelon, 182
Training the Boy, 201
Tree Frogs, 168
Turtle's Song, The, 30
Two Sick Negro Boys, 173
Washing Mamma's Dishes, 189
What Will We Do for Bacon?, 185
Wild Hog Hunt, 165
Willie Wee, 189
You Had Better Mind Master, 126
Young Master and Old Master, 169
_Charms and Superstitions_
Bat! Bat!, 202
Black-eyed Peas for Luck, 200
Don't Sing before Breakfast, 186
How to Make it Rain, 101
Jaybird, 14
Molly Cottontail, or Graveyard Rabbit, 8
My Speckled Hen, 170
Periwinkle, 201
Speak Softly, 214
_Hunting Songs_
Fox and Geese, 40
He will Get Mr. Coon, 28
Hunting Camp, The, 43
Miss Slippy Sloppy, 100
Opossum Hunt, An, 23
Rattler, 46
_Drinking Songs_
Aunt Dinah Drunk, 53
Bring on your Hot Corn, 29
Little Red Hen, 37
_Wise and Gnomic Sayings_
Brag and Boast, 213
Don't Tell All You Know, 214
Drinking Razor Soup, 211
Fed from the Tree of Knowledge, 212
How to Plant and Cultivate Seeds, 208
Independent, 209
Learn to Count, 207
Man of Words, A, 208
Old Man Know-all, 211
Self-control, 213
Speak Softly, 214
Still Water Runs Deep, 214
Temperance Rhyme, 209
That Hypocrite, 210
Tongue, The, 212
War is On, The, 207
_Harvest Songs_
Harvest Song, 57
_Biblical and Religious Themes_
Ark, The, 44
How to Keep or Kill the Devil, 104
Jawbone, 12
Jonah's Band, 1
Satan, 93
_Play Songs_
Anchor Line, 87
Budget, A, 79
Did You Feed my Cow?, 78
Down in the Lonesome Garden, 89
Green Oak Tree! Rocky-o!, 81
Hawk and Buzzard, 75
He Loves Sugar and Tea, 84
Here Comes a Young Man Courting, 85
Kissing Song, 82
Kneel on This Carpet, 82
Likes and Dislikes, 76
Little Sister, Won't You Marry Me?, 90
Old Black Gnats, The, 80
Peep Squirrel, 78
Precious Things, 84
Raise a "Rucus" To-night, 90
Sallie, 87
Salt-rising Bread, 83
Song to the Runaway Slave, 88
Sugar Loaf Tea, 81
Susan Jane, 77
Susie Girl, 76
Sweet Pinks and Roses, 92
_Miscellaneous_
Antebellum Courtship Inquiry, 135
Antebellum Marriage Proposal, 137
As I Went to Shiloh, 13
Aunt Jemima, 107
Bad Features, 100
Bedbug, 96
Blindfold Play Chant, 73
Bought Me a Wife, 145
Captain Dime, 5
Care in Bread-making, 112
Caught by the Witch Play, 74
Christmas Turkey, 98
Clandestine Letter, A, 136
Coffee Grows on White Folks' Trees, 107
College Ox, The, 112
Courtship, 138
Crooked Nose Jane, 99
Crossing a Foot-Log, 109
Day's Happiness, A, 125
Destitute Former Slave Owners, 97
Do I Love You?, 129
Does Money Talk?, 113
Elephant, The, 116
Fattening Frogs for Snakes, 97
Few Negroes by States, A, 117
Fine Plaster, A, 124
Fox and Geese Play, 73
Fox and Rabbit Drinking Proposition, 111
Frightened Away from a Chicken-Roost, 95
Going to be Good Slaves, 101
Good-by, Wife!, 148
Goosie-Gander Play Rhyme, 75
Half Way Doings, 120
Hawk and Chickens Play, 74
He Paid Me Seven (Parody), 122
Hear-say, 114
How to Get to Glory Land, 96
How to Please a Preacher, 117
I Walked the Road, 139
I'll Eat when I'm Hungry, 114
I'll Get You, Rabbit!, 116
I'll Wear Me a Cotton Dress, 118
I'm a "Round-Town" Gentleman, 108
If You Frown, 137
Indian Flea, 12
Invited to Take the Escort's Arm, 135
Joe and Malinda Jane, 4
John Henry, 105
Johnny Bigfoot, 93
Juba, 9
Jump Jim Crow, 13
Kept Busy, 109
Let's Marry Courtship, 138
Looking for a Fight, 118
Love is Just a Thing of Fancy, 2
Mule's Kick, The, 98
Mule's Nature, The, 108
Negro Soldier's Civil War Chant, 115
Negroes Never Die, 11
Newly Weds, The, 144
No Room to Poke Fun, 99
On Top of the Pot, 10
Our Old Mule, 112
Outrunning the Devil, 103
Page's Geese, 102
Parody--He Paid Me Seven, 122
Parody on "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep", 115
Parody on "Reign, Master Jesus! Reign!", 122
Presenting a Hat to Phoebe, 140
Pretty Little Pink, 127
Rascal, The, 106
Request to Sell, A, 123
Sex Laugh, 102
Short Letter, A, 113
Slave Marriage Ceremony Supplement, 143
Sparking or Courting, 136
Stand Back, Black Man, 10
Still Water Creek, 2
"They Steal" Gossip, 110
This Sun is Hot, 108
Thrifty Slave, The, 94
To Win a Yellow Girl, 102
Turkey Funeral, 111
T-U-Turkey, 6
Two Times One, 121
Uncle Jerry Fants, 109
Walk, Talk, Chicken With your Head Pecked, 4
We'll Stick to the Hoe, 123
When I Go to Marry, 144
When I Was a Roustabout, 145
Why Look at Me?, 113
Wild Negro Bill, 94
Wind Bag, A, 101
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Transcriber's Note--Con't: The following changes and corrections were
made:
p. x: missing u-macron added (... 'is fūner'l song.)
p. 9: marker mentioned in footnote was originally a double dagger
p. 20: extra " removed (He's a "dead shore shot," gwineter kill
dem crows." to ... gwineter kill dem crows.)
p. 21: Footnote originally read "Those starred ..."
p. 29: misplaced apostrophe moved ('An toted him away. to An'
toted him away.)
p. 31: one to on (Mud turkle settin' on de end o' dat log;)
p. 38: . to , (Den I e't 'is 'lasses all de week,)
p. 43: two identical footnotes (note [16]) merged
p. 45: indent on 3rd line removed in "Grey and Black Horses"
p. 66: missing o-macron added (An' dat ole Police shō' make me
jump.)
p. 70: missing o-macron added (Now retch out yō' han' ...)
p. 74: extra " removed ("Chickamee," chickamee, cranie-crow." to
"Chickamee, chickamee, cranie-crow.")
p. 87: missing ! added to 1st Sallie! in second set of brackets
p. 145: missing close " added ("Potrack! Potrack!")
p. 151: indent on lines 3 and 4 removed in "The Great Owl's Song"
p. 157: "But he ..." to "But: He ..." in 3rd stanza of "My Little Pig"
p. 165: ; to ! (Mash his head; de sun shine bright!)
p. 173: missing hyphen added (Grasshopper a-settin' on ...)
p. 174: missing hyphen added (Doodle-Bug, 3rd line, 1st "Doodle-bug!")
p. 228: PART II heading added
p. 290: periods after the words "Solitaire" and "Supplemented"
removed
p. 290: missing period added (I a.)
p. 292: missing ! added after last "Juba!" in doublet
p. 303: comma changed to period (their skill will long linger.)
pp. 307, 314, 327, 345: ante-bellum to antebellum to match rest
of text
Several spelling and punctuation irregularies between the index and the
main text have been corrected without note. Several alphabetization
errors in the index were also corrected.
"Push the Hog's Feet under the Bed" was removed from p. 333 of the
index--it was listed with no page number, and does not appear in the
text. Also, the poem "A Day's Happiness" (p. 125) was called "A Day's
Happenings" in the index (pp. 328, 345)--this was corrected.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Negro Folk Rhymes - Wise and Otherwise: With a Study" ***
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