White Default, Color Blindness, & African American Influences On Play Party Songs

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - July 19, 2026

This pancocojams post presents information about American play party songs, with a focus on White default, color blindness, and African American cultural contributions to play party songs and their performance activities.

This post also includes my opinions about White default and color blindness in reference to play party songs and other American (United States) folk songs.

The history of  and lyrics for "Great Big House In New Orleans" is presented in this post as an example of a play party song. This post also presents a description of the performance of that play party song. 

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to  to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to all of the collectors of play party songs.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/great-big-house-in-new-orleans-play.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Great Big House In New Orleans". That post showcases seven YouTube videos of the play party song "Great Big House In New Orleans" (also known as "Great Big House"). 

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DISCLAIMER
Publishing these online write-ups and these excerpts does not mean that I agree with everything that is written in those excerpts and doesn't mean that I believe that these write-ups and excerpts provide a complete summary of these subjects..

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT (UNITED STATES) PLAY PARTY SONGS
SOURCE #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_party_(United_States)
"A play party is a social event in which toddlers gather to sing and dance. Play parties began in the 1830s in the United States as a route around strict religious practices banning dancing and the playing of musical instruments. The areas most influenced by the practice were the Southern and Midwestern parts of the United States. Folk songs, many of European and English origin, were used as means to give the attendants choreographed movements for each phrase. No instruments were played at the events, as they were banned by the religious movements of the area. Singing and clapping were used to convey each song. Because dancing was banned, the movements took on the quality of children's games. Though the performance of play parties dwindled in the 1950s, music educators use them as ways to incorporate music and dance in their classrooms.[1]

Some traditional examples of play-parties are: Skip to My Lou, Buffalo Gals, Bingo, Pop Goes the Weasel, Old Dan Tucker, Coffee Grows on White Oak Trees, and Shoot the Buffalo."

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SOURCE #2
From https://balladofamerica.org/play-party-appreciation/ "The American Play Party: An Appreciation" by Cecilia Riddell, PhD

..."Origins of the Play Party

The origin of the term "play party" is interesting, Some rural religious communities didn't approve of dancing or music of the fiddle, which they considered the "Instrument of the Devil." …. The Church code of conduct read that unruly song and dance was a social evil. Specifically mentioned was the forbidden swinging of arms and legs. … rural Americans agreed on an acceptable cover-up for dancing. It was a new term: play party. These two words together suggested healthy recreation to the authorities who might otherwise have objected. After all, there would be no fiddling since everyone sang the music. Approved conduct rules fell into place, such as no alcohol, no carousing, and no swinging by the waist.

The play party traveled with pioneer families across the United States in the 1850s and onward. Settlers and immigrants sang about cities and states. such as "Goin' to Boston," "Alabama Gal," and "Great Big House in New Orleans." I note, however, that they were only singing about these urban places, not wanting to move to them.

In the "old days," play parties needed some non-musical organization. There was a need to accommodate parents with babies or small children. Volunteer hosts provided extra rooms for the youngest while parents danced. Hosts (girls or women) secured a place such as a living room, parlor, or barn. They found room to tie up horses or to park buggies and wagons for those who didn't walk to the events. If the weather was fine, dances might take place in someone's field or front or back yard, perhaps under moonlight.

[…]

Play Party Songs

"Songs were catchy and provided an easy verse form to which new lines could be made up," notes Ives in The Wayfaring Stranger. One of those catchy songs was "Skip to my Lou," a favorite of Lincoln's. Others were well-known folk and popular songs of the time, such as "Yankee Doodle," "Pop Goes the Weasel," "Oh! Susanna," and "I've Been Working on the Railroad."...

I enjoy the melodies and lyrics of American personalities, such as "Old Joe Clark," "Sally Down the Alley," and "Captain Jinks." 

[...]

Play Parties and Other Dance Forms

In many books and on recordings, the play party is listed as, or implied to be, a "singing game." Janet E. Tobitt described it as a "singing game for recreation." She writes that her examples are American play parties but refers to them as "singing games for recreation." Elsewhere in her publications, she uses the term "song dances." Notably, she was born and educated in the U.K., where the term play party is not generally recognized.

[…]

Reviving the Play Party

Music educators have become known for promoting play parties in journals and at national and local conferences and meetings, particularly by the American Orff Schulwerk Association. Martha Riley, a prominent music educator, wrote in the Orff Echo:

Accompanied only with singing, play parties use simple footwork with the emphasis on social and 'game' aspects. Children experience movements and concepts found in traditional folk dances . . . While you may think play parties are more difficult than dancing to recorded music because the children must do two things at once: sing and move. But the words of the song often include dance instructions, so that singing makes the game easier to play. Furthermore, when children are singing, the beat is internal… Children are more aware of the beat, phrase, and form when making music themselves."...
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The portion given in italics was written that way online.

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AFRICAN AMERICAN INFLUENCE ON PLAY PARTY SONGS  

SOURCE #1
AI Overview [result of my April 18, 2026 query]
"African American influence on play party songs—a genre of folk dance/games popular in the 19th/20th centuries—brought intense rhythmic energy, syncopation, and call-and-response structures derived from work songs and spirituals. These songs bridged traditional African melodies with American culture, introducing dynamic, game-focused rhythms into community dancing.

Key elements of African American influence include:

Rhythmic Syncopation: Moving away from rigid European rhythms, African American play parties introduced "swing," "swung," and "rocked" rhythms that characterized community social dances.

Call and Response: Play parties often utilized this traditional musical form, crucial for interactive, group participation.

Incorporation of Game Songs: Specific game songs with roots in African American communities, such as "Mary Mack," "May Go 'Round the Needle," and "Plantation Dance," were key to these social gatherings.

Cultural Adaptation: The melodies and rhythms were directly influenced by plantation traditions and the music of African descendants in America, adapting African traditions to new contexts.

These, alongside religious music, blues, and later funk, formed the foundational rhythmic elements of many American celebratory practices and popular dances. "

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SOURCE #2
AI Overview [This write-up is the result of my query on April 19, 2026]
"Identifying Black American elements in American folk songs involves recognizing specific musical, rhythmic, and lyrical traditions that originated from African musical practices and the African American experience, particularly during slavery. Key elements include the call-and-response structure, heavy use of syncopation, the pentatonic scale, blue notes, and lyrical themes focused on work, sorrow, liberation, and resilience.

Here are the primary Black American elements found in American folk music:

1. Rhythmic & Melodic Characteristics

Call-and-Response: A leader sings or plays a phrase, and a group or instrument responds, mirroring West African communal music.

Syncopation & Polyrhythms: Layering different rhythms on top of each other, emphasizing the "off-beat." This is the foundational rhythm behind ragtime and early jazz.

Blue Notes and Melisma: "Bent" notes, usually the 3rd or 7th degree of the scale, that fall between major and minor. Melisma involves singing multiple notes on one syllable.

Pentatonic Scale: Frequent use of a five-tone scale, reflecting both West African and European influences.

"Shout" Style: Spirited, rhythmic, and often improvised singing style associated with spirituals.

2. Performance Practices

Improvisation: Individual creativity is prioritized within the structure of a song.

Roughness/Noise: A preference for a "dirty" or "stank" sound—varying vocal timbre, raspy vocals, or vocalized "groans" and "hollering" to heighten emotional impact.

Body Percussion: Accompanying music with handclapping, foot-stomping, and dancing (e.g., the Ring Shout).

3. Lyrical and Structural Themes

Spirituals and Freedom Songs: Songs filled with double meanings, using biblical imagery (like Moses or Jordan) to discuss escaping slavery or political, social, and religious liberation.

Work Songs/Sea Chanteys: Rhythmic, repetitive songs designed to coordinate manual labor, designed to lift spirits and keep a steady pace while working on plantations or docks.

Blues/Ballads: Often focus onpersonal hardship, sorrow, love, or the stories of "trickster" figures who outsmarted authority.

4. Instrumental Influences

The Banjo: An instrument with direct roots to the West African akonting, brought over during the Middle Passage and initially played entirely within Black communities before being adopted into white Appalachian music.

The "Bones": Percussive, rattling sounds created by holding animal bones between the fingers.

Examples of Songs:

"Follow the Drinking Gourd": A spiritual containing coded instructions for escaping slaves.

"John Henry": A ballad celebrating a strong black work song leader.

"Deep River": A traditional spiritual showing the expressive, soulful melodic structure.

"Shortnin' Bread": Features the rhythmic patting/syncopation techniques.

Note: Many American folk songs are a result of "creolization," or the blending of African and European musical traditions, particularly in the South, making the African influence fundamental to American vernacular music.
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These fonts are the way that this write-up is given online.
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I'd add that the text (words) and the textual structure also may suggests that a particular play party song or other folk song originated with African Americans.

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SOURCE #3
From https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/genres/game-songs-play-songs
"African American children worked beside their mothers in the field and other settings, where they were exposed to the singing of adults. Leisure time mutually engaged children and adults in various play/game activities of both African and European origin and was broadly categorized as: baby games and plays, handclapping plays, jumps and skips, singing plays, ring plays, dances, house plays and home amusements, and outdoor games. Games/plays frequently were played in a ring or line formation. Despite a segregated society, the traditions of both cultures passed back and forth and were modified. In keeping with African practices, performers added individual signatures to these traditions through minor changes in melodies, rhythms, words, and/or movements. They also created songs to accompany new games and forms of play that became part of the broader repertoire. 

[...]

Musical Features/Performance Style

The African American tradition is distinguished from its European-derived counterpart by its distinctive imagery and complex dance steps, accompanied by rhythmic (often syncopated) handclapping, and foot-stomping. The singing employs call-and-response structure and repetitive choruses also associated with African musical practices.

Lyrics

Game and social or play songs derived text from various sources: the game itself; folktales; children’s fantasies and experiences; popular songs of the time; and television commercials, along with their interpretation of local events and the world around them (often using their colloquialisms)."...
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Italics added to highlight that sentence.

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MY NOTES ABOUT WHITE DEFAULT, COLOR BLINDNESS, AND PLAY PARTY SONGS 
People who teach play party songs or other folk songs may think that they are being "color-blind" by not mentioning race. However, by not mentioning race they are actually reinforcing the viewpoint that only White people are responsible for composing those songs. This is because both online and offline "White" is the default race (just as "male" is the default gender). When no race is mentioned for an individual (unless the discussion is about some criminal act or something that is stereotypically considered to be the purview of a particular race/ethnicity), people automatically assume that that person is White (just as people automatically assume that people posting online are male).

Regardless of their race or ethnicity, children shouldn't be led to believe that White people were the only composers of play party songs or other folk songs.

White default means to automatically assume that the creators everything good were White people, and particularly White men.

This automatic assumption hits home for me because I'm a seventy-eight year old Black woman who remembers going to an elementary school (in Atlantic City, New Jersey) in the 1950s when all the teachers were White except for two Black teachers. And I remember one of those White teachers saying "Black people didn't have any culture".

That statement may have been what eventually led me decades later to start and work on this pancocojams blog which focuses on sharing information about and celebrating examples of Black cultures in the United States and elsewhere around the world.

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AI OVERVIEW WRITE-UPS ABOUT WHITE DEFAULT  
AI Overview  [This write-up is a result of my April 19, 2026 query about the meaning of "White default"]

"White Default: Examining Racialized Biases Behind AI ..."White default" refers to the societal, cultural, or media-driven assumption that whiteness is the standard, normal, or neutral state. It means that white characters, experiences, or behaviors are assumed unless specified otherwise, often centering Western perspectives and perpetuating racialized biases in literature, media, and AI.

Key Aspects of "White Default"

Media and Fiction Representation: In Western fiction, characters are often assumed to be white unless their race is explicitly stated, largely due to historical trends and author demographics.

AI and Societal Bias: Generative AI tools often reproduce this bias, creating images that reflect a white default, which can reinforce stereotypes.

Perception and Normalization: This concept suggests that whiteness is treated as a "litmus test" for normal, with other races often defined by their difference from this norm.

The Power Dynamics: Critics analyze this phenomenon to understand how power structures and cultural biases are upheld, often highlighting how it marginalizes other experiences.

Countermeasures: Many are actively working to break this pattern by ensuring diverse representation in literature and avoiding the assumption that unspecified characters are white.

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WIKIPEDIA EXCERPT ABOUT RACIAL COLOR BLINDNESS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_color_blindness
"Racial color blindness refers to the belief that a person's race or ethnicity should not influence their legal or social treatment in society.

The multicultural psychology field generates four beliefs that constitute the racial color-blindness approach. The four beliefs are as follows: (1) skin color is superficial and irrelevant to the quality of a person's character, ability or worthiness, (2) in a merit-based society, skin color is irrelevant to merit judgments and calculation of fairness, (3) as a corollary, in a merit-based society, merit and fairness are flawed if skin color is taken into the calculation, (4) ignoring skin color when interacting with people is the best way to avoid racial discrimination.[1]

 The term metaphorically references the medical phenomenon of color blindness. Psychologists and sociologists also study racial color blindness. This is further divided into two dimensions, color evasion and power evasion. Color evasion is the belief that people should not be treated differently on the basis of their color. Power evasion posits that systemic advantage based on color should have no influence on what people can accomplish, and accomplishments are instead based solely on one's own work performance.[2]

 At various times in Western history, this term has been used to signal a desired or allegedly achieved state of freedom from racial prejudice or a desire that policies and laws should not consider race. Proponents of racial color blindness often assert that policies that differentiate by racial classification could tend to create, perpetuate or exacerbate racial divisiveness. Critics often believe it fails to address systemic discrimination.[3][4][5]"...

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EXAMPLE OF A (UNITED STATES) PLAY PARTY SONG- "GREAT BIG HOUSE IN NEW ORLEANS" PLAY PARTY SONGS AND WHITE  DEFAULT, COLOR BLINDNESS, AND THE PLAY PARTY SONG 

Most online examples of the play party song "Great Big House In New Orleans", the lyrics refer to "every room that I been in/filled with pumpkin pie."

The replacement of the words "chicken pie" with pumpkin pie" may seem an innocuous way of substituting something familiar for something that is unfamiliar. But terms that are familiar in one population may be unfamiliar in another population.

That substitution effectively "White-wash" that play party/folk song because-generally speaking- pumpkin pie is much more familiar to White people than Black Americans and the opposite is true for Black Americans.

"Pumpkin pie" is largely a dessert that White Americans and may be unfamiliar to Black Americans who are much more familiar with the similar looking, but different tasting "sweet potato pie".  The opposite is true for White Americans.

Click https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2022/1122/What-s-in-a-pie-History-culture-and-a-taste-of-home for the article "What’s in a pie? History, culture, and a taste of home" by Kendra Nordin Beato, November 22, 2022

"If you grew up in the northern United States, it’s likely you associate pumpkin pie with Thanksgiving. But travel south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and another orange-colored pie reigns supreme on the holiday table – sweet potato pie.

Historically, pumpkins don’t grow well in the Southern heat. But that’s not the only reason for the absence of pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving was originally perceived as a holiday forced on the South by the victorious North after the Civil War. The arrival of pumpkins was just another pie in the face.

There’s more to the story. Sweet potatoes are also central to Black Southern cuisine; they’re tied up in the history of the slave trade, the yam, and plantation cooks.

[...]

Maia Harrell, who grew up in Georgia, is a self-described pie nerd. She started working in a pie shop in high school, studied the history of Black women and pie-making in graduate school, and then launched her own business, Lord of the Pies.

Today, she makes more than 100 pies a week and sells them at farmers markets around Atlanta. Ms. Harrell, whose family traditions lean more toward cake, didn’t even have her first piece of pumpkin pie until she worked in the pie shop. She found it bland.

“I was raised with ... ‘Black folk don’t eat pumpkin pie’ kind of thing,” she says. “If it’s an orange pie, it’s always sweet potato.”

[...]

Even more surprising, she says, are her white customers who have never seen a sweet potato pie before. “I got a lot of questions like ... ‘Is it sweet?’ ‘Is it savory?’ I’ve never had to explain to somebody what a sweet potato pie is!” Without fail, she adds, they grew up in the North."... 

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The replacement of the words "chicken pie" with "pumpkin pie" also erases important elements of pre-emancipation American history and culture, particularly with regards to the history of the scarcity of food for enslaved African Americans. African American originated songs about "chicken pie" reveal how that population coped with food scarcity by baking chicken pies that would last for several meals. The lyrics to some of those songs that referred to "chicken pie" revealed their desire for food and a life when they wouldn't have to worry about being hungry.

Read this excerpt from https://matadornetwork.com/read/classic-southern-pies. Why pie flourishes in the South [no author or publishing date given]
"So many of the most iconic pies in the country have Southern roots: sweet potato in North Carolina and Alabama, pecan in Oklahoma and Texas, key lime in Florida, and coconut cream in South Carolina. Other styles have barely caught on in the rest of the country and remain Southern secrets deeply rooted in the region’s culinary culture…

A history of Southern pie would not be complete without mentioning its ties to slavery. This is especially true for enslaved women, who were responsible for all of the cooking in the homes of wealthy white families. Slaves might also be responsible for popularizing another favorite Southern pie: sweet potato pie. Antebellum cookbooks are packed with recipes for this Southern favorite, but slaves likely cooked most of these pies in plantation houses. Sweet potato pie rarely appeared in their own homes until stoves became more affordable, according to food writer and historian Adrian Miller.

After the Civil War, many recipes were adapted during times of food scarcity. NPR reports that one 1863 recipe details how to make an apple pie without apples. In a story for The Washington Post, writer and pastry chef Lisa Donovan explains that a freed slave who made a living selling pies in 19th century Alabama might be responsible for one of the first ever chess pies. In 1881, a former slave named Abby Fisher published her remarkable cookbook, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Southern Cooking, which features recipes for custard pie (similar to chess pie), as well as sweet potato pie. Chess pie is another pie that grew out of need — it replaces citrus with vinegar and fresh milk with buttermilk.

Burdett of Crook’s Corner thinks that creating meals, not just pie, with easily obtainable and inexpensive ingredients is an essential piece of Southern cuisine.

“With most food when you’re in the South, when you’re broke you just kind of pull ingredients, and that’s where new things develop and that’s how Southern cuisine stays alive,” Burdett says. “My grandmother just made what she had available, and those dishes morphed into something amazing. That’s just ‘what’s in the kitchen’ kind of cooking. Being broke and not having any money and trying to cook for a family.”...

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Visitor comments are welcome. 

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.

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[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."

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[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."

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[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…..

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[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…..

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[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.

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[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.

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[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.

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[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.

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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….

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[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.

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