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AFRICAN
AMERICAN SECULAR SLAVE SONGS
This page contains selected examples of &
commentary about African American secular {non-religious} slave songs. These
featured songs are either dance songs, work songs, children's play songs, or
children's lullabies.
click here to submit examples or
commentary about African American secular slave songs.
Examples of African American Secular Slave
Songs
A,B
C,D
Cotton Eyed Joe
{Version #2}
Don't you remember, don't you know,
Don't you remember Cotton-eyed Joe?
Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe,
What did make you treat me so?
I'd 'a' been married forty year ago
Ef it had n't a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!
Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe,
He was de nig dat sarved me so,-
Tuck my gal away fum me,
Carried her off to Tennessee.
I'd 'a' been married forty year ago
Ef it had n't a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!
His teeth was out an' his nose was flat,
His eyes was crossed, - but she did n't mind dat.
Kase he was tall, and berry slim,
An' so my gal she follered him.
I'd 'a' been married forty year ago
Ef it had n't a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!
She was de prettiest gal to be found
Anywhar in de country round;
Her lips was red an' her eyes was bright,
Her skin was black but her teeth was white.
I'd 'a' been married forty year ago
Ef it had n't a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!
Dat gal, she sho' had all my love,
An' swore fum me she'd never move,
But Joe hoodooed her, don't you see,
An' she run off wid him to Tennessee.
I'd 'a' been married forty year ago
Ef it had n't a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!
-Dorothy Scarborough, On The Trial of Negro Folk Songs,
originally published in 1925
Editor:
For an interesting discussion about the meaning of "cotton-eyed",
read comments presented in this Mudcat Discussion Forum thread:
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=13537&messages=74
"Subject: RE: Cotton-eyed Joe-true story/composite?"
Here is one brief excerpt from that thread: "The Penguin Book of American Folk
songs edited by Alan Lomax has a 2-verse version of Cotton-eyed Joe in the
"lullaby" section. It has the "Where did you come from..." verse and the "Come
for to see you, come for to sing, come for to show you my diamond ring." In a
very brief explanatory note, Lomax adds: "In Southern parlance a man is
'cotton-eyed' if his irises are milky-coloured. Cotton-Eye Joe, the obscure hero
of a number of Negro dancing tunes and fiddler's airs, here turns up in one of
the loveliest of Southern mountain lullabies, found by Margaret Valliant in the
hills of Tennessee." from a comment posted by rlr 08 Sep 99 - 09:06 PM .
Among other comments in that thread, I would also like to call your attention to
rir's comment from 20 Feb 00 - 02:33 PM.
****
Cotton Eyed Joe {Version #1}
Hol' my fiddle an' hol' my bow,
Whilst I knocks ole Cotton Eyed Joe.
I'd a been dead some seben years ago,
If I hadn't a danced dat Cotton Eyed Joe.
Oh, it makes dem ladies love me so,
W'en I comes 'roun' pickin' ole Cotton Eyed Joe!
Yes, I'd a been married some forty years ago,
If I hadn't stay'd 'roun' wid Cotton Eyed Joe.
I hain't seed ole Joe, since was las' Fall;
Dey say he's been sol' down to Guinea Gall.
-Thomas W. Talley, Negro Folk Rhymes; dance song originally
published in 1922 by Macmillan Press
****
E,F
G,H
Hambone
Hambone, Hambone
where you been?
“Round the corner
And back agin”
Hambone Hambone,
where's your wife?
"In the kitchen cookin rice"
-Multiple sources, including my childhood memories of Atlantic City,
New Jersey, 1950s
See also this example from Bessie Jones and Bess
Lomax Hawes,
Step It Down, Games, Plays, Songs & Stories From The Afro-American Heritage
{Athens, Ga; University of Georgia Press, 1972, pps 34-36}
Note that this example includes a variant form of "Frog Went A 'Courtin":
Hambone Hambone pat him on the shoulder
If you get a pretty girl, I'll show you how to hold her.
Hambone, Hambone, where have you been?
All 'round the world and back again.
Hambone, Hambone, what did you do?
I got a train and I fairly flew.
Hambone, Hambone where did you go?
I hopped up to Miss Lucy's door.
I asked Miss Lucy would she marry me.
{in falsetto} "Well I don't care if Papa don't care!"
First come in was Mister Snake,
He crawled all over that wedding cake.
Next walked in was Mister Tick,
He ate so much it made him sick.
Next walked in was Mister Coon,
We asked him to sing us a wedding tune,
Now Ham-....
Now Ham....
-snip-
I,J
Jim
Along Josie: Correction to Original Post
I'm writing this to correct information I made
some two years ago on my website Cocojams.com that I see have found there
way here [to Mudcat Cafe] and Lord knows where else. Let me first
apologize and offer the following information as a way of making up for
any confusion I caused.
Firstly, I wrote that Jim Along Josey is included in Thomas Talley's 1922
book Negro Folk Rhymes. I was mistaken. The versions I was speaking of are
found in Dorothy Scarborough's 1925 book On the Trail Of Negro Folk Songs.
That Folklore Associates' edition of Scarborough's book, published in 1963
has three different versions of Jim Along Josie {pps 104-106), one called
"Jim Along, Josey", one called "Hold My Mule", and one that Scarborough notes
is "a variant of the Josey song".
I also said that a josey was a woman's undergarment. I was wrong. As
someone wrote in this thread or another, "Josey" is a woman's coat. See
John Russell Bartlett, The Dictionary of Americanisms: New York Crescent
Books, originally published 1849. "Joseph, a very old riding coat for
women, scarcely now to be seen or heard of-Forby's Vocabulary. A garment
made of Scotch plaid, for an outside coat or habit, was worn in New England
about the year 1830, called a Joseph by some a Josey.
Olivia was drawn as an Amazon, sitting upon a bank of
flowers, dressed in a green Joseph.-Godsmith, Vicar of Wakefield .
I still believe that is "Josey" was {sometimes} used as dance name. See the
lines "Hold my mule while I dance Josey
Hold my mule while I dance Josey
Hold my mule while I dance Josey
Oh, Miss Susan Brown."
The other two verses given are: "Wouldn't give a nickel if I couldn't
dance Josey". and "Had a glass of buttermilk and I danced Josey".
However it may be possible that an earlier name for the "Josey" dance was
"Jim Along, Josey." In that case "Jim Along" probably was the equivalent
of the phrase "Get a-long", which Scarborough uses in the chorus of this
song "Hey, get a-long, get a-long, Josey
Hey, get a-long, Jim a-long, Jo!
Hey, get a-long, get a-long Josey,
Hey, get a-long, Jim a-long Jo!
I find it interesting that Scarborough consistently uses a comma in the
title and "Jim Along" lines. This may reinforce the notion that "Jim
Along" means the same thing as "Get along". But sometimes a word may have
multiple meanings in the same song perhaps because the lines are mixed and
matched by different people, and often the song changes over time and
space. So the 3rd verse of Scarborough's first version of "Jim Along,
Josey" reads "Away down south, a long ways off
A bullfrog died wid de whooping-cough
And t'other side of Mississippi, as you know
Was whar I was called fust Jim A-long Jo.
In that context, anyway, a person {one can assume a man} was given the
nickname Jim Along,Jo. Probably then his name was Joe and he got along??
Who?? Where? How? We probably will never know....
But, since I don't think that I have seen the variant version that
Scarborough shared in your database {though that doesn't mean it's not
there}, I'll include it in this message.
"Here is a variant of the Josey song, that combines stanza from other
well-known favorites, This was sent to me by Virginia Fitzgerald, from
Virginia.
As I was going up a new-cut road,
I met a Tarrepin an' a Toad.
Every time the Toad would jump,
The Tarrepin dodge behind a stump.
O! rall, rall Miss Dinah gal,
O! do come along, my darling!
O! rall, rall, Miss Dinah gal,
O! do come along, my darling!
My ole Missis promise me
When she died she'd set me free'
Now ole Missis dead an' gone,
She lef' olde Sambo hillin' up corn.
Hey, Jim a-long, Jam a-long a-Josie,
Hey, Jim a-long, Jam a-long, Joe!
Hey, Jim a-long, Jam a-long, from Baltimo'!
You go round an' I go through
............................
You get there befo' i do,
Tell 'em all I'm comin' too.
Hey, Jim a-long, Jam a-long, Josie
Hey, Jim a-long, Jam a-long, Joe!
Hey, Jim a-long, Jam a-long, from Baltimo'
--
It should be noted that "You get there before I do, tell my friends I'm
coming to" is a floating verse found in a number of African American
spirituals.
Also, let me take this opportunity to thank you for the interesting
information and often insightful comments found on this
[Mudcat Cafe Discussion forum] website!
-re-post from Mudcat Cafe discussion forum
{Jim Along Josie: lyrics & origin};
GUEST,Azizi; 25 Jul 04
**
Jimmy Crack Corn {The Blue Tail Fly} {Version #2}
Verse #1
When I was young I used to wait
On master and hand him his plate
Pass him the bottle when he got dry
And brush away the blue-tail fly
Chorus:
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away
Verse #2
When he would ride in the afternoon
I'd follow him with my hickory broom
The pony being rather shy
When bitten by the blue-tail fly
Chorus
One day he rode around the farm
Flies so numerous that they did swarm
One chanced to bite him on the thigh
The devil take the blue-tail fly
Chorus
Well the pony jumped, he start, he pitch
He threw my master in the ditch
He died and the jury wondered why
The verdict was the blue-tail fly
Chorus
Verse #3
Now he lies beneath the 'simmon tree
His epitaph is there to see
"Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie
The victim of the blue-tail fly"
-multiple sources; African American folk song
Editor:
See
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=40458 {Lyr Add: Jim Crack Corn or
The Blue Tail Fly} for discussion of the origins and early printed versions of
this song.
**
Jimmy Crack Corn {The Blue Tail Fly}
{Version #1}
When I was young I us'd to wait
On Massa and hand him de plate;
Pass down the bottle when he git dry,
And bresh away de blue tail fly.
refrain (repeated each verse):
Jim crack corn — I don't care,
Jim crack corn — I don't care,
Jim crack corn — I don't care,
Old Massa gone away.
An' when he ride in de arternoon,
I foiler wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly.
One day he rode aroun' de farm,
De flies so numerous dey did swarm;
One chance to bite 'im on the thigh,
De debble take dat blu tail fly.
De poney run, he jump an' pitch,
An' tumble massa in de ditch;
He died, an' de jury wonder'd why
De verdic was de blue tail fly.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Crack_Corn
Editor:
See this website for information about the history & various interpretations of
this song. Here is an excerpt from that site:
"Blue Tail Fly", "De Blue Tail Fly", or "Jimmy Crack Corn" is a blackface
minstrel song, first performed in the United States in the 1840s, which remains
a popular children's song today.
Over the years, many variants of text have appeared, but the basic narrative
remains intact. On the surface, the song is a black slave's lament over his
master's death. The song, however, has a subtext of rejoicing over that death,
and possibly having caused it by deliberate negligence. Most versions at least
nod to idiomatic African American English, though sanitized, grammatically
"correct" versions predominate today"
-snip-
Although it is correct that this song was used by blackfaced minstrel {both
White men and Black men}, imo, this song originally came from African American
people and was picked up and used by American {and other nation's} blackfaced
minstrels.
It's interesting that the subtext of the slave rejoicing over the death of his
master is rarely mentioned or realized by those who sing this song nowadays.
Others have commented -and I agree-that Jimmy Crack Corn is truly a subversive
song.
K,L
M,N
Mister Rabbit
Call: Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit, your ears are mighty
long!
Response: Yes, my Lord, they put on wrong.
Group: Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine!
Call: Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit, you’re in my cabbage
patch!
Response: Yes, my Lord, I won’t come back.
Group: Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine!
Call: Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit, your tail’s mighty white.
Response: Yes, my Lord, I’m goin’ out of sight.
Group: Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine!
-multiple sources including books of American folk songs
Editor:
Although “Mister Rabbit” is included in several older books on American folk
songs, its African American origin is rarely noted. The song is also rarely
written in a call & response style. Yet, I think that this style fits it best.
This story song is about a rabbit who is caught by in a farmer’s vegetable
garden. How does he explain what he is doing there? How quickly can he think up
responses to the farmer’s comments?
This song is one of several rabbit songs that used to be very well known among
African American children. However, few African American children in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania (or I would imagine any other urban area) know this song now. Most
urban children may have never seen a rabbit besides the Easter bunny or in the
petting zoo. Few urban children know what a cabbage patch is. We might be more
familiar with the term “small vegetable garden”, but that doesn’t mean that
we’ve ever seen one. When a song’s references become outdated or foreign to a
population, people are less likely to sing the song, and may eventually forget
it all together.
But, on a deeper level, this song is still relevant. I believe that “Mister
Rabbit” may have been more than entertainment. Or, to put it another way, the
type of entertainment that enslaved Africans taught their children also helped
them develop the survival skill of being mentally alert and knowing how to talk
their way out of trouble. Given the oppressive nature of slavery and post
slavery societies, being able to talk your way out of trouble was sometimes a
matter of life and death. “Thinking fast on your feet” was certainly a survival
skill that enslaved people needed and it is still needed today.
O,P
Oh, Rockum Jubilee
You call me dog and I don’t care.
Oh, my Lord!
You call me dog and I don’t care!
Oh, rockum Jubilee
You call me mule and I don’t care
Oh, my Lord.
You call me mule and I don’t care
Oh, rockum Jubilee.
You call me snake and I don’t care
Oh, my Lord!
You call me snake and I don’t care!
Oh, rockum Jubilee.
-Source: anonymous composers; African American game song included in Dorothy
Scarborough: On The Trail Of Negro Folk Songs (Folklore Associates, Inc.
Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1963; p 190; originally published in 1925, Harvard
University Press)
Editor:
“Oh, Rockum Jubilee” is an open-ended song which could continue as long as the
singers thought of another negatively regarded animal {for instance: “you call
me pig and I don’t care”; “you call me monkey and I don’t care}. Imo, "Oh Rockum
Jubilee" was sung to emotionally and mentally toughen up African American
children who, because of their race, were bound to be targets of ridicule &
distain. In that sense, this song serves the same purpose as the "sticks and
stones may break my bones" folk saying that I grew up with in the 1950s.
Note that this song shares the phrase “I don’t care" with another more widely
known African American folksong “Jimmy Crack Corn" {also known as "The Blue-Tail
Fly"}. See that song's lyrics posted on this page. “O Rockum Jubilee” may have
been added to make slavery owners think that this was a religious song, since
“Jubilee” was a referent for heaven. However, “Jubilee” and “The year of
Jubilee” were also referents for freedom.
African Americans used to call these old time songs “plays”. I suppose that
children singing this song would have used their bodies and dramatic expressions
to act out the animal’s movement that was featured in the particular verse.
**
Possum Up The Gum Stump
'Possum
up the gum stump
Dat {That} raccoon’s in de {the} holler
Twis' {Twist} 'im {him) out and get 'im down
An' I’ll gin {give} you half a dollar.
‘Possum up the gum stump
Yes, cooney’s in de holler’
A pretty girl down my house
Jes {Just} as fat as she can waller.
Possum up de gum stump.
His jaw is black an' dirty.
To come an' kiss you, pretty gal
I’d run lak {like} a goobler tucky {turkey}
Possum up the gum stump
A good man's hard to fin' {find}:
You'd better love me, pretty gal
You'll git {get} de yudder {other} kin' {kind}.
---
Source:
Thomas W. Talley, Negro Folk Rhymes (Kennikat
Press, Port Washington, N.Y., p 3; originally published by The Macmillan
Company, 1922
Note: a word in parenthesis is meant to
clarity the meaning of the preceding word; after the first use, a
parenthesis word is no longer given
Editor:
It is my belief that the dance song
“Possum Up The Gum Stump” was composed by anonymous African Americans at
some point during the three centuries of
American slavery.
The sentence “possum up the gum
stump, raccoon in a hollow’ is part of a floating verse that is found in a
number of other Black non-religious songs of those times.
‘Possum' is a shortened form of the word 'opossum'.
“Cooney” is a referent for raccoon.
A “gum stump” means the stump of the gum tree.
A ‘holler” {“hollow”} means a hole in the ground. “Woller” means “to wobble”.
The term “a “goobler” turkey” comes from the “gooble, gobble, gobble” sound the turkey is said to make.
During slavery in the United States,
hunting raccoons & possums was used to supplement the meager diets of
enslaved
African Americans.
In the first verse, the speaker is promising to pay a
person to capture a raccoon for him. This may have been wishful thinking.
However, it should be
remembered that this was a dance song. Therefore it shouldn't be
surprising that the subject of the song quickly turns to courting a pretty
girl. *
To enhance the
meaning of the third line of the 2nd verse, in my opinion, it should read
"A pretty girl goes {or comes}
down my house".
The line "A good man is hard to find" sounds sooo familiar to
me, though I can't at the moment say what other traditional
and/or contemporary songs it is found in.
Maybe the reason why this line has
withstood the test of time is because it's universally true. :O)
The last line of this rhyme may be more easily understood
if it were written "Or you'll get the other kind"-meaning if the woman
doesn't love the good man, she's likely to get a bad one.
Imo. "Possum Up A Gum
Stump" demonstrates how African American rhymes, like African rhymes
before them, personalized animals & other living creatures. In rhymes like
this the listener can assume that the words apply to only animals
themselves, or to the animals sometimes and then to humans, or to the
animals and humans at one and the same time. This creative use of layered
{coded} meanings can be used to deny that any negative meaning was
intended.
Given the African/African American custom of layered meanings,
it is possible that there really is a connection between this rhymes' possum & coon
references and the man's statements to his girl that she'd be better choose
him because 'good men are hard to find'.
Given the African/African American custom of
layered meanings, could it be that for the speaker in "Possum Up The Gum
Stump" rhyme 'bad men' were equated with the black & dirty jawed
possum? As for the negative use of the word 'black', unfortunately
there are a number of rhymes composed by enslaved African Americans that
demonstrate considerable bias against dark skin color. And many of these
rhymes equate black skin color with being dirty.
For example, in "Here Comes A Young Man Courting" the man responds to
women asking him to select one of them to court with the words "You is too black and
rusty." The man ends up choosing "Miss Lula. Miss Lula is described as
being the
fairest among the 'yaller' girls. In this context, 'fair' means light
skinned. Other examples of African American slavery rhymes that
demonstrate Black bias against dark skin color are "Stand Back, Black
Man"; Johnny Cuckoo", and "When My Wife Dies". And there are many many
more.
--
*Some people may be surprised that the speaker in "Possum
Up The Gum Stump"
describes a pretty gal as being fat. Although thin has long been the
standard of feminine beauty for Western society, many traditional African
cultures consider a beautiful woman to be one who has "meat on her bones".
It would therefore not be beyond the bounds of expectations that some
African Americans, then and now, retained that traditional standard of
feminine beauty.
This is not said to discount the increasing documentation that there are
adverse health consequences to being "overweight". Rather I'm mentioning
this to point out the cultural difficulties probably will be encountered
in promoting weight lose to African American women.
- Azizi, 5/2003
Q,R,S
Short'nin Bread
Put on de skillet
Put on de led
Mammy's gonna make
A lil short'nin bread
Dat not all
Dat she gwine to do-
She's gwine make
A li'l coffee, too
Chorus
Mammy's little baby loves short'nin, short'nin
Mammy's little baby loves short'nin, bread
Mammy's little baby loves short'nin, short'nin
Mammy's little baby loves short'nin, bread
Three little children*
lyin in bed
Two was sick
And t'other 'most dead
Sent for the doctor
And de doctor said,
"Give dem children*
some short'nin bread
Chorus
I slipped in de kitchen,
An' slipped up de led
An' I slipped up my pockets
Full of short'nin bread
I stole de skillet
I stole de led
I stole gal
To make short'nin bread
Chorus
Dey caught me wid de skillet,
Dey caught me wid de led,
An' dey caught me wid de gal
Cookin' short'nin bread,
Paid six dollars for de skillet,
Six dollars for de led
Served six months in jail,
Eatin short'nin bread.
Chorus
-multiple sources including Dorothy Scarborough, On the Trail Of Negro
Folk Songs: (Folklore Associates, Inc. Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1963; p 150;
originally published in 1925, Harvard University Press).
Editor:
“Shortnin Bread” is a folk song composed by enslaved African Americans that is
still relatively well known. As is the case with other folk songs, there aren't
supposed to be any fixed verses or fixed order of verses to this song. It is
more than acceptable for the
singer to improvise new verses, and add them to the verses that she or he had
heard before.
Dorothy Scarborough, who collected the version of "Short'nin Bread"
presented above, wrote that this song was a lullaby (a song used to “lull” or help
babies and young children go to sleep). At some point, however, a more uptempo
tune was used and "Short'nin Bread" became a dance song.
*Because I find the N-word offensive, I have substituted "children" for the
"N-word" that was used in this song. Also, because of negative connotation
associated with the word “mammy”, when I introduce this song to children, I
substitute the word “mama” for “mammy.” In the version presented above, the word
"skillet" means "frying pan". The word "led" means the "lid" {cover} for the
frying pan.
“Shortnin’ bread” is cornbread cooked with bacon bits or bacon gravy mixed in
it.
Both shortn'in bread and coffee were longed for treats for people who barely
existed on the food staples that were allotted to them during slavery.
Unfortunately, all too often during slavery, and afterwards, children were sick
in bed or almost dead from starvation. Some children today barely have enough
food to eat-even in the United States which is said to be the richest nation in
the world.
Another name for “shortnin’ bread is “cracklin bread. “Cracklin” is the word
used for the crispy bacon bits. According to Dorothy Scarborough, African
Americans cooked cracklin bread during hog killing time and it was considered by
them to be a real treat. (Dorothy Scaborough, On the Trail Of Negro Folk
Songs: (Folklore Associates, Inc. Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1963; p 151;
originally published in 1925, Harvard University Press).
Description of Hambone patting from "Step It
Down"
"Hambone may be performed alone or with a group all jiving together,
While the rhyme is being said, the players slap their thighs lightly on the
off-beat, After each line of the poem, they "pat"...
The "patting" may be done on one side of the body only, using the right hand and
thigh, or on both sides at the same time in parallel motion. The triplet phrase
is done as follows:
1.Slap the side of the thigh with the palm of the
hand in an upward brushing
motion.
2. Continuing the upward brushing; strike the side or the chest with the
palm of the hand.
3. Strike the thigh downward with the back if the hand.
Do this series twice, then slap your thigh three times. The entire pattern is
repeated after each line of the rhyme..."
-snip-
The Hambone beat is a form of 'pattin Juba" that was used for percussive affect
in place of drums during African American slavery. The rock & roll
singer/musician Bo Diddley used this beat so much in his records that it became
known as the "Bo Diddley" beat.
-snip-
The Hambone beat is a form of 'pattin Juba" that was used for percussive
affect in place of drums during African American slavery. The rock & roll
singer/musician Bo Diddley used this beat so much in his records that it became
known as the "Bo Diddley" beat.
"Pattin Juba" motions are also a standard addition to step routines that are
performed Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities.
T,U,V
The Paterroller Song
Chorus: Run Black man * run.
The patterollers get you.
Run Black man run,
It’s almost day.
Verse 1 That man* ran.
That man flew.
That man tore his
shirt in two.
Verse 2 That man ran.
He ran his best.
He stuck his head
in a hornet’s nest.
Verse 3 He jumped the fence
and ran through the pasture.
White man run,
but the Black man run faster.
-Multiple sources, re-posted by Azizi 6/16/2006
Editor:
This seemingly humorous song has a serious origin. During slavery, it was
customary for African American men and women to risk beatings and torture to
journey far distances at night to visit their family members and loved ones who
lived on other plantations. “Patterollers” was an African American code word
(secret term) for “patrollers”. Patrollers were White men who would patrol the
roads to make sure that enslaved men, women and children without passes (written
permission) would be off the road and back at their plantations by sunrise. If
the patrollers found an enslaved man or woman on the road, he or she would be
badly beaten. One of the reasons enslaved African American sung this song would
be to warn other African Americans to beware of the patrollers. “Run Black man
run” has many rhyming verses. According to Dorothy Scaborough’s 1925 book, On
the Trail Of Negro Folk Songs (Folklore Associates, Inc. Hatboro,
Pennsylvania, 1963; p 12; originally published in 1925, Harvard University
Press), the chorus could also be used with religious verses such as this one “If
you get there before I do, ‘most done lingering here, look out for me, I’m
coming too, most done lingering here.” This verse may have been used as a secret
code to let people know that the person was planning to escape to the Northern
United States or to Canada.
The phrases “Black man” and "that man" are my substitutions for the original
word “n*****”, which I consider a derogatory term. During slavery, however, some
African Americans commonly used “the n-word” as a basic referent for themselves
and other Black people. The chorus and first two verses of “The Patterollers
Song” can be found in a number of American children’s folk song books with the
word “children” substituted for the original referent.
W,X,Y,Z
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commentary about African American secular slave songs.
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