NEAR-WALDO-TEE-DO O MAH NAH MEJAIORNEAR-WALDO-TEE-DO IS MY SWEETHEART1. 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.TranslationNear 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.
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 BLAYORAN EVENING SONG1. Seah O, Tuba blay.Tuba blay, Tuba blay.2. O blay wulna nahn blay.Tuba blay, Tuba blay.Translation1. Oh please Tuba sing.Tuba sing, Tuba sing.2. Oh sing that song.Tuba sing, Tuba sing.
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 OWLWe 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.TranslationThe 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.
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 KOMOORI AM NOT GOING TO MARRY SUMPUN1. Sai Sumpun komo.De Sumpun nenah?Sumpun se jello jeppoBoddeoh Sumpun.2. Sai Sumpun komo.De Sumpun nenah?Sumpun auch nahn jehn deddoc.Boddeoh Sumpun.Translation1. I am not going to marry Sumpun.What has Sumpun done?Sumpun doesn't live a seafaring lifeBoddeoh Sumpun.2. I am not going to marry Sumpun.What has Sumpun done?Sumpun does not support me.Boddeoh Sumpun.
1. Sai Sumpun komo.De Sumpun nenah?Sumpun se jello jeppoBoddeoh 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 lifeBoddeoh Sumpun.
2. I am not going to marry Sumpun.What has Sumpun done?Sumpun does not support me.Boddeoh Sumpun.
BYANSWAHN-BYANSWAHNORA BOAT SONGŌ-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.TranslationOh boat, come back to me.Since you carried my child away,I have not seen that child.Oh boat come back to me.
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 BUZZARDDr. 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.TranslationTurkey 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.
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 FROGSThe 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.TranslationFrogs, 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.
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.
BUSCHER GARDENThis Negro rhyme from rural Jamaica was contributed by Dr. Cecil B. Roddock, a native of that country. The wordBuschermeans 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!
This Negro rhyme from rural Jamaica was contributed by Dr. Cecil B. Roddock, a native of that country. The wordBuschermeans 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!
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 SONGWe'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!!
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.
[54]Cici = a kind of game.
[54]Cici = a kind of game.
A "WOULD BE" IMMIGRANTConjo Celestine! OhHe 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.
Conjo Celestine! OhHe 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.
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 COOLIEORBEAUTIFUL MARIE, THE EAST INDIANUn 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.TranslationBeautiful 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.
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 CATMy 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Christianpraise 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."
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: Usuallyone 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 thechanged 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 Caucasianspat 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 ideasabout 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."
"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 themidst 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 followingour 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."
"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 versesfor 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 therace 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?"
(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" Negropicnics. 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 shadeAn' 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 payTo git candy fer de ladiesAn' cakes fer de babies."
"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 shadeAn' 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 payTo git candy fer de ladiesAn' 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 demonstratedhis 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. Amongthose 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 onewill 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 neverwas 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 payit, 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 wordBalladrolls out without the slightest effort, as a term that takes them allin. 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 developsinto 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, becausethe 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 NegroBallad, 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:
With the way paved for others to make such comparative study as they would like, I now feel freeto 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:
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 hominginstinct, 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:
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, originatedby 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 thecustom 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—