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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
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Transcriber's Note—Con't: The following changes and corrections were made:
Front Matter: mid-line dots changed to periods p. vi: diaeresis and e-acute accent removed from naivete 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 2nd 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. 227: e acute accent removed from dique p. 228: PART II heading added p. 283: OE ligature changed to Oe (Oeohippus) 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.
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