Food Or Beverages References In Some Examples In The 1922 Book "Negro Folk Rhymes" (Part II)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series that presents examples of rhymes from that refer to food or beverages from African American university professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book entitled Negro Folk Rhymes; Wise And Otherwise.  

This post presents some additional examples of rhymes (songs) fromThomas W. Talley's 1922 book entitled Negro Folk Rhymes; Wise And Otherwise.hat collection.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/food-or-beverages-references-in-some.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I provides information about Thomas W. Talley, including information about his now classic collection entitled Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise and Otherwise). That post also presents some examples of this sub-category of rhymes (songs) from that collection.

The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Dr. Thomas W. Talley for his research and writing. Thanks to all the unknown composer/s of these rhymes (songs) and those people who shared these rhymes Dr. Talley. Thanks to all others who are quoted in this post. In addition, thanks to the original publisher of this collection and thanks to  and thanks to The Project Gutenberg for the 2008. Ebook edition of this book.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/jessica-rose-food-and-slave-communities.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Jessica Rose - "Food And Slave Communities In The Antebellum South" (Excerpt Of A 2016 CUNY Dissertation)." Most of the research that is presented in that dissertation is validated by these Negro Folk Rhymes examples. (That research also presents information about the relationship between poor Whites and enslaved Black people in the southern region of the United States. That subject isn't mentioned in the Negro Folk Rhymes collection.)  

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This pancocojams series presents some examples from a sub-set of rhymes (songs) in Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes collection. From the examples themselves and from Talley's notes about these examples, it can be conferred that these and all other rhymes (songs) in that collection were largely sung or chanted by adults.

These selected examples are presented "as is" in whole or in part in this series according to their page/s in the Project Gutenberg Ebook edition of that collection, with the exception of asterisks between each example and with the exception of the spelling for the referent that is commonly called "the n word". The six letter or five letter forms of that referent is given with amended spelling in this pancocojams series ("Ni&&er"; "Ni &&ah"). 

In Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes, "the n word" was used as a largely non-offensive group referent for Black people. However, in most of the 20th century and in the 21st century "the n word" is usually considered to be a highly derogatory referent whose use is very much discouraged.    
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Added: Feb. 22, 2022
Thomas W. Talley's 1922 Negro Folk Rhymes documents that these versions of the rhymes (songs) in his collection were remembered by Talley and/or by other African Americans who shared them with him. It doesn't mean that these examples necessarily originated with African Americans.

It's very difficult if not impossible to know who were the original composers of American [United States] folk songs. To a large extent that is because of racism against Black Americans and the fact that so much of Black history (in the United States and elsewhere, was purposely lost and stolen. 

Click https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/20/rhiannon-giddens-and-what-folk-music-means for a related article entitled "Rhiannon Giddens and What Folk Music Means".

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FOOD OR BEVERAGES REFERENCES IN THE 1922 BOOK "NEGRO FOLK RHYMES"

From https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm by Thomas W. Talley [originally published 1922]

[Pg 51]

THE OLD HEN CACKLED

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.

****
[Pg 55]

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."

****
[Pg 55] 

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!

[Pg 56]

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."

****
[Pg 57]

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…..

****
[Pg 61]

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 Ni&&ers 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…..

****
[Pg 63]

 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.

****
[Pg 64]

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.

****
[Pg 67]

HAM BEATS ALL MEAT

Dem white folks set up in a Dinin' Room
An' dey charve dat mutton an' lam'.
De Ni&&er, 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 Ni&&er 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.

****
[Pg 69]

CHICKEN PIE

If you wants to make an ole Ni&&er 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.

[Pg 70]

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.

****
Play Rhyme Section

[Pg 82]

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….

****
[Pg 83]

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.

**** 

 [Pg 83]

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 Ni&&ah, he love sugar an' tea.
Dat Ni&&ah love dat candy.

[Pg 85]

Fine Ni&&ah! 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.

****
Pastime Rhyme Section

Pg 94

 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!

****
[Pg 97]

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!

****
[Pg 97] 

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.

****
[Pg 106]

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.

****

[Pg 107]

COFFEE GROWS ON WHITE FOLKS' TREES

Coffee grows on w'ite folks' trees,
But de Ni&&er 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.

***
[Pg 110]

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.

****
[Pg 110]

"THEY STEAL" GOSSIP

You know:
Some folks say dat a Ni&&er 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.

[Pg 111]

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.

****
[Pg 112]

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.

****
[Pg 113]

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.

****
[Pg 114]

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.

****

[Pg 114]

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!

****
[Pg 116]

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.

****
[Pg 117]

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.

****
[Pg 126]

MASTER KILLED A BIG BULL

Mosser killed a big bull,
Missus cooked a dish full,
Didn't give poor Ni&&er a mouf full.
Humph! Humph!

Mosser killed a fat lam'.
Missus brung a basket,
An' give poor Ni&&er de haslet.
Eh-eh! Eh-eh!

Mosser killed a fat hog
Missus biled de middlin's,
An' give poor Ni&&er de chitlin's.
Shō! Shō!

****
[Pg 126]

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 Ni&&ers 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'.

****
[Pg 127]

Love Rhyme Section

[Pg 130]

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.

****
Nursery Rhyme Section

[Pg 153]

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 Ni&&er's bes' fare.

****
[Pg 156]

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.

****
[Pg 159]

ASPIRATION

If I wus de President
Of dese United States,
I'd eat good 'lasses candy,
An' swing on all de gates.

****
[Pg 165]

WILD HOG HUNT

Ni&&er 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 Ni&&er grab dat wild hog wid all his grip.

****
[Pg 173]

TWO SICK NEGRO BOYS

Two liddle Ni&&ers 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 Ni&&er 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!

****
[Pg 176]

GUINEA GALL

'Way down yon'er in Guinea Gall,
De Ni&&ers 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!

****
[Pg 179]

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.

****
[Pg 181]

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.

****
[Pg 185]

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.

****
[Pg 186]

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.

****
[Pg 187]

LITTLE SLEEPING NEGROES

One liddle Ni&&er a-lyin' in de bed;
His eyes shet an' still, lak he been dead.

Two liddle Ni&&ers a-lyin' in de bed;
A-snorin' an' a-dreamin' of a table spread.

Three liddle Ni&&ers a-lyin' in de bed;
Deir heels cracked open lak shorten' bread.

Four liddle Ni&&ers a-lyin' in de bed;
Dey'd better hop out, if dey wants to git fed!

oo! 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.

****
[Pg 187]

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.

****
[Pg 197]

Now: in come a Ni&&er an' in come a bear,
In come a Ni&&er dat hain't got no hair.
Good-by, Ni&&er, go right on back,
Fer I hain't gwineter give you no flap-jack.

****
[Pg 197]

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.

[Pg 198]

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.

[Pg 199]

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.

****
[Pg 200]

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.

[Pg 201]

[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.

****
[Pg 203]

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.

****
[Pg 204]

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.

****
[Pg 204]

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.

****
[Pg 204]

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.

****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome. 

Food Or Beverages References In Some Examples In The 1922 Book "Negro Folk Rhymes" (Part I)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series that presents examples of rhymes from that refer to food or beverages from African American university professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book entitled Negro Folk Rhymes; Wise and Otherwise.  

Part I provides information about Thomas W. Talley, including information about his now classic collection Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise and Otherwise). This post also presents some examples of this sub-category of rhymes (songs) from that collection.

Click https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/5893219718076521675 for Part II of this series. That post present some additional examples of this sub-category of rhymes (songs) from Thomas W. Talley's collection.

The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Dr. Thomas W. Talley for his research and writing. Thanks to all the unknown composer/s of these rhymes (songs) and those people who shared these rhymes Dr. Talley. Thanks to all others who are quoted in this post. In addition, thanks to the original publisher of this collection and thanks to  and thanks to The Project Gutenberg for the 2008. Ebook edition of this book.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/jessica-rose-food-and-slave-communities.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Jessica Rose - "Food And Slave Communities In The Antebellum South" (Excerpt Of A 2016 CUNY Dissertation)." Most of the research that is presented in that dissertation is validated by these Negro Folk Rhymes examples. (That research also presents information about the relationship between poor Whites and enslaved Black people in the southern region of the United States. That subject isn't mentioned in the Negro Folk Rhymes collection.)  

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/versions-of-shortnin-bread-1900-1950.html for a pancocojams post entitled "Versions Of "Shortnin' Bread" Song (1900-1950)". The title for the "Shortnin' Bread" song is given in Thomas W. Talley's book as "Two Sick Negroes". The song "Salt-Rising Bread" in that collection is also related to the song "Shortnin Bread". 

****
INFORMATION ABOUT THOMAS W. TALLEY
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_W._Talley
"Thomas Washington Talley (October 9, 1870 – July 14, 1952) was a chemistry professor at Fisk University and a collector of African American folk songs.

Early life and education

Thomas W. Talley was born on October 9, 1870, in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He was one of eight children born to former slaves, Charles Washington and Lucinda Talley.[1]

Talley attended public school for six years, followed by high school and college at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he received an A.B. in 1890 and a master's degree in 1893. Starting in 1888 he participated in the Fisk music program, singing with the New Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Mozart Society, as well as the Fisk Union Church. He also conducted the Fisk choir for a number of seasons.[2]

[…]

Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise and Otherwise)

Talley began collecting rural black folk songs later in his life. Talley's first collection, published in 1922, Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise And Otherwise) contained 349 secular folksongs and spirituals. Already being well-known as the first such collection assembled by an African-American scholar,[2] the book was seen at the time as a "masterpiece of the field".[5] It was not only the first compilation of African-American secular folk songs, but also of folk songs of any kind from Tennessee.[2] An edited edition of Negro Folk Rhymes/ was re-released in 1991. Additional published works about music by Talley include The Origin of Negro Traditions and A Systematic Chronology of Creation.[1]

The publication of Negro Folk Rhymes marked a turning point in the study of African-American verse. Before its publication, little note had been taken of black secular traditions. Talley's book, along with a later collection by Howard Odum and Guy Johnson, called attention to these works.[6]”…

****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This pancocojams series presents some examples from a sub-set of rhymes (songs) in Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes collection. From the examples themselves and from Talley's notes about these examples, it can be conferred that these and all other rhymes (songs) in that collection were largely sung or chanted by adults.

These selected examples are presented in this pancocojams series "as is" (in whole or in part) according to their page/s in the Project Gutenberg Ebook edition of that collection. The exceptions to this statement is that I've added asterisks between each example and I've used  amended spelling for the referent that is commonly called "the n word". (The spelling that I've used is "Ni&&er" or "Ni&&ah").

In Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes, "the n word" was used as a largely non-offensive group referent for Black people. However, in most of the 20th century and in the 21st century "the n word" is usually considered to be a highly derogatory referent whose use is very much discouraged.    
-snip-
Added: Feb. 22, 2022
Thomas W. Talley's 1922 Negro Folk Rhymes documents that these versions of the rhymes (songs) in his collection were remembered by Talley and/or by other African Americans who shared them with him. It doesn't mean that these examples necessarily originated with African Americans.

It's very difficult if not impossible to know who were the original composers of American [United States] folk songs. To a large extent that is because of racism against Black Americans and the fact that so much of Black history (in the United States and elsewhere, was purposely lost and stolen. 

Click https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/20/rhiannon-giddens-and-what-folk-music-means for a related article entitled "Rhiannon Giddens and What Folk Music Means".

****
FOOD OR BEVERAGES REFERENCES IN THE 1922 BOOK "NEGRO FOLK RHYMES"

From https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm by Thomas W. Talley [originally published 1922]

[...]

Dance Rhyme Section

[Pg 2]

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.

[…]

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.

****
[Pg  6]

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 Ni&&er Back 'hind dat tree.

[Pg 7]

He stole tucky, I didn' steal none.
Go wuk him in de co'n field jes fer fun.

****
[Pg 7]

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!"

****
[Pg 10]

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!

****
[Pg 11]

NEGROES NEVER DIE

Ni&&er! Ni&&er never die!
He gits choked on Chicken pie….

****
[Pg 17]

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.

****
[Pg 18]

DINAH'S DINNER HORN

It's a cōl', frosty mornin',
An' de Ni&&ers 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.

[Pg 19]

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?

****

Pg 23
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.

[Pg 24]

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'.

**** 
[Pg 24]

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.

[Pg 26]

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'….

[Pg 29]

RING 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.

****
[Pg 30]

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.

**** 

[Pg. 33]

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!

****
[Pg 33]

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.

****
[Pg 34]

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."

[Pg 35]

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."

****
[Pg 37]

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 Ni&&rs 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.

****
[Pg 38]

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.

****
[Pg 41]

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!....

****
[Pg 46]

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!

****
[Pg 46]

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.

[Pg 47]

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.

[…]

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….

****
[Pg 47]

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.

****
[Pg 49]

HOECAKE

If you wants to bake a hoecake,
To bake it good an' done;
Jes' slap it on a Ni&&er'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 Ni&&er'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 Ni&&er's heel,
An' hōl's it to de fire.

****
[Pg 50]

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!" 

****
This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.
 

Jessica Rose - "Food And Slave Communities In The Antebellum South" (Excerpt From A 2016 CUNY Dissertation)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents an excerpt of Jessica Rose's 2016 City College of the City University of New York dissertation entitled "Food And Slave Communities In The Antebellum South".

This excerpt is given without this dissertation's notes [citations] and bibliography.

The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and educational purposes.

I'm particularly interested in how the history shared in this dissertation informs folk songs, rhymes, and singing games that are still performed in the 21st century such as songs about shortnin bread, songs that mention Black people stealing chickens, and songs about people having houses "full of chicken pies".

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Jessica Rose for her research and writing and thanks to all those who are quoted in her  dissertation.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/food-or-beverages-references-in-some.html for a link to the first post in a closely related two part pancocojams series entitled "Food Or Beverages References In Some Examples In The 1922 Book "Negro Folk Rhymes" (Part I)". 
The link for Part II of that series is included in that post. 

The examples showcased in that series include references to food and/or beverages which validate many of the points that are presented in Jessica Rose's 2016 CUNY dissertation. (Jessica Rose's research also presents information about the relationship between poor Whites and enslaved Black people in the southern region of the United States. That subject isn't mentioned in the Negro Folk Rhymes collection.)  

****
DISSERTATION EXCERPT: FOOD AND SLAVE COMMUNITIES IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH
From https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1576&context=cc_etds_theses
 [by] Jessica Rose... May 9, 2016

" Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts of the City College of the City University of New York

[...]

[page] 9
….Many planters set aside provision grounds or garden patches for the use of enslaved men and women. Often times these plots of land, which varied in size from plantation to plantation, were adjacent to the cabins but they could also be away from the slave quarters. 12.

 Emanuel Elmore, who experienced slavery in upcountry South Carolina, be-

[page] 10.
lieved, like many other enslaved individuals, that providing land for independent cultivation was a sign of a good slaveholder.13 These provision grounds were important for several reasons. Access to land provided individuals with an opportunity to make claims to property. One of the pillars of slavery was the notion that enslaved men, women and children were nothing more than chattel therefore the right to land claimed by many bonded African-Americans at the very least challenged some of the tenets of slavery by indirectly affirming that enslaved people had rights, albeit in custom and not law.14 These gardens also provided enslaved Americans with an opportunity to generate revenue. They often sold these food crops to the residents in the plantation household as well as at markets, and they typically kept the profits for themselves and their families.15 In addition, provision grounds also enabled households to supplement their rations, which were often low quality, meager and lacking in variety.16 Reflecting on his time in bondage, James Bolton recalled collards, cabbage, turnips, beets, English peas, beans, onions and garlic being grown in slave gardens.17 The garden patches tended by enslaved people provided an opportunity to make claims to property as well as supplemented the diets of bonded people….

[…]

[page] 12. 

III. Cultivating Kinship

The right to work private garden patches was a right fought for and preserved by enslaved African-Americans. While slaveholders saw these plots of land as a means to cut costs, the individuals that worked them used them not only to sustain themselves but also their communities. The food that was grown on provision grounds did not go straight from garden to table. These crops crossed plantation lines and were used to court potential suitors. They were bartered for other ingredients that would be used to prepare special meals for weary husbands. The provisions were also a means to reaffirm the place of the superannuated and erode the parental claims of slaveholders over enslaved children.

Slave narratives and interviews make numerous references to food and when we follow the evidence it becomes clear that food should not be viewed exclusively as a source of sustenance. Food fostered community among enslaved Americans, allowing them to overcome the countless obstacles to its formation.

A critical reading of post-emancipation testimony points to the central role of food in shaping courting practices. African-Americans were opposed to entering into romantic relationships with those in their immediate family.18 Given the restrictions placed on the movement of enslaved men and women and the often small number of slaves living in the average southern household this was problematic for individuals looking for romantic partners....

[page] 14.

An important part of the courting ritual was exchanging gifts and these presents were often food items. Given the limited resources of bondmen and -women, it makes sense that these gifts typically took the form of foodstuff...

Where Buttler sang of being offered a humble meal by his love interest, John White recalled using food to win over the many women he courted. A lifelong bachelor, White served as a cook and washer in the big house. Reflecting on his experiences in bondage,

White recalled taking advantage of his access to food supplies to procure gifts for women: “Sometimes they’d borrow, sometimes i’d slip something from out the kitchen.

The single women folks was bad that way. I favors them wit something extra from the kitchen. Then they favors me.”24 White’s statement speaks to the use of food gifts in courting. It also reveals that enslaved women engaged in their own calculations to determine compatibility. Their calculations involved taking stock of resources possessed by a 

[page] 15.

suitor, including their access to food supplies as well as a willingness to engage in independent cultivation of crops and other food items... 

Enslaved men brought products from their garden when courting women and also bragged about their produce to their neighbors. Dylan Penningroth has argued that boasting was an important way to establish and affirm claims to property in the slave quarters.26 I posit that boasting also helped build the reputation of single men and, as a result, enhanced the possibility of finding a mate as well. Boasting about one’s property, whether it be foodstuff or articles obtained by bartering items cultivated in a garden patch, boosted one's reputation. These claims may have been statements of fact but they also doubled as a personal advertisement. Gloating about property was a means to establish oneself as a provider and therefore as a desirable partner.

Food, specifically a willingness to share food items, was an important factor that distinguished romantic relationships among bondspeople. Where “sweethearting,” a temporary, non-monogamous relationship, and “taking up,” a temporary relationship for older couples that required submission to community guidelines, were not considered serious enough to require the sharing of food, living together and marriage were.27 In con-

[page] 16.

trast to White and other individuals who chose to exchange food and other gifts while courting, some men, like Willis Benfield rejected the practice in favor of waiting until they were involved in a serious relationship. Benfield is representative of an untold number of men who were more frugal when sweethearting or taking up. Prior to his marriage, Benfield courted his wife but when asked if that included bringing presents he was explicit: I “never give her nuthin’ till I marry her.”28 Benfield’s statement suggests that while some men thought it was to their advantage to share their meager bounty when looking for a wife, others chose to wait until marriage to share their limited possessions.

Courting was an important part in the lives of enslaved individuals but marriage occupied a more revered place in the relationship hierarchy and food assumed a more prominent role.

Many of the courting practices of enslaved Americans carried over into marriage. The distinction of slave versus free was conferred by the status of one’s mother. Thus all children born to an enslaved mother shared her status and were the property of the mothers’ owner. Eugene Genovese argues that these laws created an important opportunity for negotiation between masters and bonded individuals. Abroad marriages, or the union of men and women on different plantations, were often discouraged because the economic advantage fell to the masters of the slave women since children followed the status of their mother. That said, masters recognized that “a man who fell in love with a woman 

[page] 17. 

off the place would be a poor and sullen worker, and probably soon a runaway, if deprived of his choice.” In return for the planter condoning abroad marriages, enslaved men had to work especially hard to avoid upsetting the planter, which could result in a loss of visiting privileges.29 Married men were responsible for traveling between plantations to visit their wives and children on holidays as well as on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The fact that these journeys were miles long and were done on foot after days spent laboring in the fields is a testament to the value black men placed on family. While it was common for husbands and wives to live apart, the home was always considered to be the place where the wife resided. As a result all of the couple’s valuable items were stored in the wife’s cabin. 30

Similar to the calculations made during courting, when selecting a partner to live with or marry the ability to provide was an important consideration for both parties. In addition to obtaining passes to visit once or twice a week on Wednesdays and/or Saturday, men were also expected to contribute to the household.31 Contributions could take the form of money or crops, and provision grounds were critical to the maintenance of households and providing a modicum of comfort to one’s wife and children. Men were interested in establishing households with women who would be able to contribute to the domicile once they transitioned to living together and/or marriage. Men who were only able to see their wives once or twice a week had expectations. When alone, a man had to prepare his own meals or eat in a communal kitchen. When he visited his wife; however, 

[page] 18. 

he looked forward to special meals prepared by her.32 Daina Ramey Berry’s research on gender and slave labor in Georgia demonstrates that by reevaluating our definition of “skilled labor” it becomes apparent that women who worked in the field did much the same work as men and regularly did skilled field labor.33 The statements of formerly enslaved  African-Americans suggest that while they were aware of the lack of major gender distinctions in field labor, they welcomed a division of labor within the household. Men were expected to do the hunting while women were expected to prepare meals. 

[…]

[page] 20. 

The relationship between the slaveholder and the enslaved varied based on age and this had the potential to influence one’s access to food supplies. While men and women of prime working age received clothing allowances and rations, many slaveholders did not believe they were responsible for providing for children and the aged or at least not in the same way as they did for the able-bodied. Slaveholders struggled to incorporate these groups into the plantation labor force and as a result they were often considered to be a burden. Unlike children who would grow into adulthood, seniors had passed their prime and were largely shunned and treated as an expense that offered no return. 

Fanny Kemble, actress turned reluctant plantation mistress, shared her observations freely. According to Kemble the elderly on her husband’s plantation resided in an infirmary where the conditions were abysmal.36 Echoing this sentiment Harriet Jacobs relayed a telling anecdote where she observed her new mistress turning away an elderly man who attempted to procure his weekly ration. The mistress’s rationale was that he was too old to receive an allowance and that “when ni—ers* were too old to work, they ought to be fed on grass.”37 This event could be an accurate retelling or the result of an overzealous abolitionist editor’s pen. Regardless of its origins, it points to fear and an acute sense of vulnerability among enslaved individuals about their status in old age and is supported by Kemble’s claims. In addition, it suggests that the aged were more likely to suffer from starvation. Bondmen and -women were considered old at fifty years of age and in the 1850s could command no higher purchase price than that of an eight-year-old child.

Genovese suggests that increasingly strict manumission laws may have benefitted super-

[page] 21.

annuated bonded people by making it difficult for farmers and planters to free them once they were no longer able to do heavy labor.38 Despite the restrictions on manumission, it was not uncommon for slaveholders to emancipate aged African-Americans during their time of need to avoid providing care. Some planters continued to allow aged members of their labor force to remain on the plantation but refused to provide clothing or rations. In contrast to aged men, older enslaved women seemed to have been viewed as having greater longevity. These women were frequently assigned the role of cook in the plantation household such as Jefferson Franklin Henry’s grandmother Ca’line who was assigned to the plantation kitchen once she was too old to labor in the fields.39 Scholars have argued that this was due in part to owners’ perception of these older women as nonthreatening but also because they were knowledgeable in food service and preparation.40

In sharp contrast to planters, the accounts of ex-slaves suggests that in the slave quarters,
enslaved people often found ways to equally absorb both aged men and women. With the able bodied work force in the field all day, the superannuated took over household tasks, typically food related, that prime hands had to postpone during the day and on occasion at night when they may have been too tired after a day stooped over beneath a sweltering sun to do their own domestic work. Aged African-Americans played an important role in many slave households and the greater community by providing childcare along with helping with food preparation. Seniors tended provision grounds, hunted small game, and fished. Regardless of the crop worked on, agricultural labor was 

[page] 22. 

taxing. Whether one labored in a task or gang system, there were always additional tasks to be completed in the household and the work of superannuated relatives was greatly appreciated. Those with experience cooking could also contribute to the domicile by selling their goods. Harriet Jacobs’ beloved grandmother Martha was known throughout the community for her cooking skills and was able to save a substantial amount of money from the proceeds of food sales.41 Traditional West African attitudes that venerate wisdom and experience may explain the willingness of enslaved Americans to embrace elderly members of the community. This is particularly important for food cultivation as the aged represented an invaluable source of knowledge. Recipes and techniques for trapping game were passed down from the oldest members of the household to the younger generations. Instead of being a burden on the community, seniors made important contributions.

Likewise, children played an essential role in feeding people on the plantation.

Slave households were the primary beneficiaries of the labor of children. The tasks reserved for children, like those of the superannuated, were invaluable to the household. Children provided indirect assistance to adults in the fields and direct assistance in the home. Before she was old enough to join the field laborers, Martha Spence Bunton recalled working with the other children on her Austin, Texas plantation to carry the dinner pails, containing meat, cabbage, biscuits and milk, to those working in the field.42

Numerous former slaves recounted similar tasks assigned to them in their youth. While

[page] 23. 

they were too young to do demanding field work they could participate by bringing food and water to laborers. Within the slave quarters children did many of the daily, food related tasks that kept the household running, such as fetching water and caring for hogs and chickens.43 Their work in the garden plots, similar to that of the elderly, reduced the burden on their overworked parents.44

However, some outside observers were perturbed by the jobs assigned to children in the slave quarters.45 This is not to suggest that enslaved children spent their youth laboring for their parents before they came of age and their masters commanded their labor.

When recalling their childhood, former slaves had vivid memories of playing with other children in the slave quarters and even the children of planters. Children typically spent their first few years nude but because they would eventually become full hands, planters occasionally took a special interest in their general wellbeing, paying particular attention to their diets.46 Dairy products were not readily available to most enslaved individuals due to the difficulties plantations had producing milk but slaveholders often provided milk for bonded children.47 Chana Littlejohn was about ten years old when union soldiers reached the plantation where she resided with what she estimates were one hundred other enslaved African-Americans. While Littlejohn recalls her family having a garden plot, she also remembers routinely receiving gifts of biscuits along with the other children on the plantation from her master’s mother.48 Littlejohn is not the only individual with

[page] 24. 

memories of receiving special food treats from their slaveholders. This is a recurring theme in the WPA interviews. That said, salient in the interviews is the disdain adults felt towards how their meals where furnished as children. How enslaved children were given their meals was one of the first ways their subordinated status was conferred. Frederick Douglass provided a vivid account of what mealtime was like for him and his peers during his youth:

We were not regularly allowanced. Our food was coarse corn meal boiled. This was called mush. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons. He that ate the fastest got the most; he that was strongest secured the best place; and few left the trough satisfied.

[…]

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…The paternalistic claims of planters were further weakened by the willingness of enslaved Americans to exchange food items with poor whites.

[…]

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Former slaves suggest that they regularly sought out poor white people or were contacted by them to barter food that provided an incentive to steal. Theft is frequently mentioned in post-emancipation testimony and slave narratives. Capitalizing on their access, whether that be to the kitchen, corn cribs or smoke houses, enslaved men and women frequently helped themselves to their overlord’s foodstuff. Theft was so rampant that during his travels he was bombarded with complaints and stories of slaveholders who fell victim to theft by bonded people.55 Slave narratives and the WPA interviews provide ample evidence of food theft by bonded people. Indeed numerous former slaves shared vivid memories of sermons exhorting against not only theft but also food theft in particular. Richard Caruthers remembered white preachers visiting to warn bondsmen 

[page] 29. 

and -women that “The good lord say: ‘don’t you ni—ers* steal chicken from your missis. Don’t you ni—ers* steal your master’s hogs.’”56 It is clear that food stealing was a common occurrence and a nuisance to slaveholders who frequently had their slave work force listen to homilies on theft. It would be easy to dismiss theft of food items as the inevitable result of meager rations; however, as the earlier section on relationships within the slave quarters revealed, enslaved African-Americans’ interactions with food went beyond subsistence. It is important to recognize that bondsmen and -women did not exclusively secret items away from slave holders for their individual use or to exchange amongst each other in the slave quarters.

Bonded people looked beyond the color line and often crossed it when it benefitted them thus incorporating poor whites into their kinship networks through food. Bondspeople stole food items from their owners and sold them to poor whites in the vicinity.

Despite the best efforts of slaveholders they were never able to completely isolate their Slaves. Interviewed in Indiana at the age of 110 Rosaline Rogers discussed her master’s
refusal to allow the slaves on his plantation to interact with poor whites in the area who had been born and raised free.57 While slave patrols were represented as keeping communities safe by making it difficult for enslaved people to meet and plan revolts, poor whites were overrepresented in their ranks and were conscripted into service.58 This system favored planters because they were able to avoid the tedious work but it also had the dual

[page] 30. 

benefit of fostering resentment between the poor white and enslaved populations. This animosity is best captured in a popular song:

“Run ni—er*, run

De Patteroll git you!

Run ni—er*, run

De Patteroll come!

Watch ni—er*, watch

De Patteroll trick you!

Watch ni—er*, watch

He got a big gun!

[page] 32 

Antebellum poor whites were also open to transcending the south's racial hierarchy when food was involved. Like enslaved blacks, poor farmers found no qualms in claiming foodstuffs from their elite neighbors as their own. Quoting a Charleston newspaper, Olmsted points out that three fourths of the individuals that engage in trade with slaves were too poor to pay the fine levied for this illegal act and rarely had property of their own.64 Similar to bonded people, lower class whites crossed the color line to trade and barter when convenient and were willing to risk prison. They also actively sought out enslaved men and women to engage in the trade of foodstuff and were likely aware that they were receiving stolen goods. Anthony Dawson, another former slave, supported this claim. Speaking with an interviewer, Dawson explained that everyone on his plantation knew that if members of a slave patrol passed by, they were doing their job. If they loitered, it was to initiate some sort of trade.65

Even when the south’s most marginalized weren’t engaged in direct trade, it is evident that an informal culinary exchange was taking place. As Genovese points out, African-Americans “contributed more to the diet of the poorer whites than the poorer whites ever had the chance to contribute to theirs.”66 For example, overcooking vegetables was common across the south. While enslaved Americans followed suit, they retained the liquid or “pot-likker” which happened to contain most of the nutritional value.

The popularity of pot-likker is evident in WPA interviews. Interviewed in Arkansas but raised on a large Alabama plantation, Henry Green was one of many former slaves who  

[page] 33

specifically mentioned pot-likker in his description of slave diets, specifically that of children.67

While it was common for lower-class southern whites to disdain foods they associated with African-Americans, Genovese suggests that some also retained the liquid from boiling vegetables for consumption.68 The similarities between the diets of enslaved Americans and poor whites is examined, among other things, in Sam Boward Hillard’s classic Hog Meat and Hoecake: Food Supply in the Old South 1840-1860.69 Far less common than garden plots, some enslaved African-Americans obtained the right to maintain their own livestock. Chickens were a popular animal kept by slave households because they yielded both meat and eggs. Another favored animal were pigs. Hillard argues that pigs represented the bulk of meat consumption across the south for both blacks and whites. While pork was a perennial presence on the tables of the planter class it was far less common for bonded people and poor whites. The fact that limited access to meat was an experience common to both enslaved Americans and lower class whites provided another instance for unity. Moreover the central role of vegetables and fruits in the diet of both groups yielded many dietary similarities that seemed to bring both groups together not only in collusion against planters but also in personal contact with one another as recipes were exchanged and provisions shared.

The work of culinary historians who have examined African-American foodways is most useful in pointing to West African food traditions maintained by enslaved Ameri-  

[page] 34 

cans and absorbed by southern whites.70 Pot-likker is just one instance of the informal exchange between enslaved people and poor whites. Limited access to meat meant that vegetables were the centerpiece of most dishes for both enslaved Americans and poor whites. Genovese points to “Hopping John,” cowpeas prepared with pork and with or without rice, as a meal consumed by both groups.71 Lack of variety, a common complaint, likely encouraged enslaved Americans and landless whites to not only barter but also exchange tips for enhancing simple dishes. Frederick Douglas Opie Jr. argues that chitlins, collard greens, okra, and turnip greens were prepared in the heavily seasoned African-American tradition and eaten by both planters and lower class whites.72 Given the presences of enslaved Americans in the planter kitchens it is easy to understand how West African and African-American food became staples in the planter household. The fact that these foods and cooking practices found their way into the homes of poor white is significant because it suggests meaningful, personal contact between the two groups.

This claim is further supported by the frequency of theft of food items. Despite undeniable tension between both groups, it is apparent that a lively exchange was in place that brought enslaved blacks and poor whites together in culture and in informal opposition to the planter class.”…
-snip-
*What is commonly known as "the n word" is fully spelled out in this dissertation, but is given with ammended spelling in this pancocojams post. 

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