NEGRO FOLK RHYMES

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited

LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.

TORONTO

Negro Folk Rhymes Wise and Otherwise

WITH A STUDY

BY THOMAS W. TALLEY, OF FISK UNIVERSITY

New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1922

All rights reserved

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Copyright, 1922, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.

Set up and printed. Published January, 1922.

Press of J. J. Little & Ives Company New York, U. S. A.

[Pg v]

INTRODUCTION

Of the making of books by individual authors there is no end; but a cultivated literary taste among the exceptional few has rendered almost impossible the production of genuine folk-songs. The spectacle, therefore, of a homogeneous throng of partly civilized people dancing to the music of crude instruments and evolving out of dance-rhythm a lyrical or narrative utterance in poetic form is sufficiently rare in the nineteenth century to challenge immediate attention. In Negro Folk Rhymes is to be found no inconsiderable part of the musical and poetic life-records of a people; the compiler presents an arresting volume which, in addition to being a pioneer and practically unique in its field, is as nearly exhaustive as a sympathetic understanding of the Negro mind, careful research, and labor of love can make it. Professor Talley of Fisk University has spared himself no pains in collecting and piecing together every attainable scrap and fragment of secular rhyme which might help in adequately interpreting the inner life of his own people.

[Pg vi]

Being the expression of a race in, or just emerging from bondage, these songs may at first seem to some readers trivial and almost wholly devoid of literary merit. In phraseology they may appear crude, lacking in that elegance and finish ordinarily associated with poetic excellence; in imagery they are at times exceedingly winter-starved, mediocre, common, drab, scarcely ever rising above the unhappy environment of the singers. The outlook upon life and nature is, for the most part, one of imaginative simplicity and child-like naïveté; superstitions crowd in upon a worldly wisdom that is elementary, practical, and obvious; and a warped and crooked human nature, developed and fostered by circumstances, shows frequently through the lines. What else might be expected? At the time when these rhymes were in process of being created the conditions under which the American Negro lived and labored were not calculated to inspire him with a desire for the highest artistic expression. Restricted, cramped, bound in unwilling servitude, he looked

about him in his miserable little world to see whatever of the beautiful or happy he might find; that which he discovered is pathetically slight, but, such as it is, it served to keep alive his stunted artist-soul under the most adverse circumstances. [Pg vii]He saw the sweet pinks under a blue sky, or observed the fading violets and the roses that fall, as he passed to a tryst under the oak trees of a forest, and wrought these things into his songs of love and tenderness. Friendless and otherwise without companionship he lived in imagination with the beasts and birds of the great out-of-doors; he knew personally Mr. Coon, Brother Rabbit, Mr. 'Possum and their associates of the wild; Judge Buzzard and Sister Turkey appealed to his fancy as offering material for what he supposed to be poetic treatment. Wherever he might find anything in his lowly position which seemed to him truly useful or beautiful, he seized upon it and wove about it the sweetest song he could sing. The result is not so much poetry of a high order as a valuable illustration of the

persistence of artist-impulses even in slavery.

In some of these folk-songs, however, may be found certain qualities which give them dignity and worth. They are, when properly presented, rhythmical to the point of perfection. I myself have heard many of them chanted with and without the accompaniment of clapping hands, stamping feet, and swaying bodies. Unfortunately a large part of their liquid melody and flexibility of movement is lost through confinement in cold print; but when[Pg viii] they are heard from a distance on quiet summer nights or clear Southern mornings, even the most fastidious ear is satisfied with the rhythmic pulse of them. That pathos of the Negro character which can never be quite adequately caught in words or transcribed in music is then augmented and intensified by the peculiar quality of the Negro voice, rich in overtones, quavering, weird, cadenced, throbbing with the sufferings of a race. Or perhaps that well-developed sense of humor which has, for more than a century, made ancestral sorrows bearable finds fuller expression in the lilting turn of a note than in

the flashes of wit which abundantly enliven the pages of this volume. There is one lyric in particular which, in evident sincerity of feeling, simple and unaffected grace, and regularity of form, appeals to me as having intrinsic literary value:

There is also a dramatic quality about many of these rhymes which must not be overlooked. It has long been my observation that the Negro is possessed by nature of considerable, though not as yet highly developed, histrionic ability; he takes delight in acting out in pantomime whatever he may be relating in song or story. It is not surprising, then, to find that the play-rhymes, originating from the "call" and "response," are really little dramas when presented in their proper settings. "Caught By The Witch" would not be ineffective if, on a dark night, it were acted in the vicinity of a graveyard! And one ballad—if I may be permitted to dignify it by that name—called "Promises of Freedom" is characterized by an unadorned narrative style and a dramatic ending which are associated with the best English folk-ballads. The singer tells simply and, one feels, with a grim impersonality of how his mistress promised to set him free; it seemed as if she would never die—but "she's somehow gone"! His master likewise made promises,

The manner of this conclusion is strikingly like that of the Scottish ballad, "Edward,"

In both a story of cruelty is suggested in a single artistic line and ended with startling, dramatic abruptness.

In fact, these two songs probably had their ultimate origin in not widely dissimilar types of illiterate, unsophisticated human society. Professor Talley's "Study in Negro Folk Rhymes," appended to this volume of songs, is illuminating. One may not be disposed to accept without considerable modification his theories entire; still his account from personal, first-hand knowledge of the beginnings and possible evolution of certain rhymes in this collection is apparently authentic. Here we have again, in the nineteenth century, the record of a singing, dancing people creating by a process[Pg xi] approximating communal authorship a mass of verse embodying tribal memories, ancestral superstitions, and racial wisdom handed down from generation to generation through oral tradition. These are genuine folk-songs—lyrics, ballads, rhymes—in which are crystallized the thought and feeling, the universally shared lore of a folk. Recent theorizers on poetic origins who would insist upon individual as opposed to community authorship of certain types of

song-narrative might do well to consider Professor Talley's characteristic study. And students of comparative literature who love to recreate the life of a tribe or nation from its song and story will discover in this collection a mine of interesting material.

Fisk University, the center of Negro culture in America, is to be congratulated upon having initiated the gathering and preservation of these relics, a valuable heritage from the past. Just how important for literature this heritage may prove to be will not appear until this institution—and others with like purposes—has fully developed by cultivation, training, and careful fostering the artistic impulses so abundantly a part of the Negro character. A race which has produced, under the most disheartening conditions, a mass of folk-poetry such[Pg xii] as Negro Folk Rhymes may be expected to create with unlimited opportunities for self-development, a literature and a distinctive music of superior quality.

Walter Clyde Curry.

Vanderbilt University, September 30, 1921.

PART I NEGRO FOLK RHYMES

[Pg 1]

Dance Rhyme Section

JONAH'S BAND PARTY

[1] These are dance steps. For explanation read the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

[Pg 2]

LOVE IS JUST A THING OF FANCY

STILL WATER CREEK

[Pg 3]

'POSSUM UP THE GUM STUMP

[Pg 4]

JOE AND MALINDA JANE

WALK, TALK, CHICKEN WITH YOUR HEAD PECKED!

[Pg 5]

TAILS

CAPTAIN DIME

[Pg 6]

CROSSING THE RIVER

T-U-TURKEY

CHICKEN IN THE BREAD TRAY

[Pg 8]

MOLLY COTTONTAIL, OR, GRAVEYARD RABBIT

[2] Leg bail = to run away.

[3] Hants = ghosts or spirits.

[4] This embraces the old superstition that carrying in one's pocket the right hind foot of a rabbit, which has habitually lived about a cemetery, brings good luck to its possessor.

[Pg 9]

[5]JUBA

[5] This peculiar kind of dance rhyme is explained in the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

[6] The expressions marked [6] are various kinds of dance steps.

[Pg 10]

ON TOP OF THE POT

[7] STAND BACK, BLACK MAN

[7] In a few places in the South, just following the Civil War, the Mulattoes organized themselves into a little guild known as "The Blue Vein Circle," from which those who were black were excluded. This is one of their rhymes.

NEGROES NEVER DIE

[Pg 12]

JAWBONE

INDIAN FLEA

[Pg 13]

AS I WENT TO SHILOH

JUMP JIM CROW

[Pg 14]

Dance Rhyme Song Section

[Listen]

JAYBIRD

[8] A superstition. For explanation, see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

OFF FROM RICHMOND

[Pg 16]

HE IS MY HORSE

[9] JUDGE BUZZARD

[9] See Study in Negro Rhymes for explanation.

[Pg 17]

SHEEP AND GOAT

JACKSON, PUT THAT KETTLE ON!

[10] Sassfac = sassafras.

[Pg 18]

DINAH'S DINNER HORN

[11] Shu't = shirt.

MY MULE

[Pg 20]

BULLFROG PUT ON THE SOLDIER CLOTHES

SAIL AWAY, LADIES!

THE BANJO PICKING

[12] Those marked [12] are found elsewhere in this volume. We were unable to obtain the other three.

[Pg 22]

OLD MOLLY HARE

[Pg 23]

ONE NEGRO TUNE USED WITH "AN OPOSSUM HUNT"

[Listen]

AN OPOSSUM HUNT

DEVILISH PIGS

[Pg 25]

PROMISES OF FREEDOM

WHEN MY WIFE DIES

[Pg 27]

ONE TUNE USED WITH "BAA! BAA! BLACK SHEEP!"

[Listen]

BAA! BAA! BLACK SHEEP

HE WILL GET MR. COON

[Pg 29]

BRING ON YOUR HOT CORN

[13] Jimmy-john = a whiskey jug.

THE LITTLE ROOSTER

[Pg 30]

SUGAR IN COFFEE

[14] THE TURTLE'S SONG

[14] For explanation see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

RACCOON AND OPOSSUM FIGHT

COTTON EYED JOE

[Pg 33]

RABBIT SOUP

OLD GRAY MINK

[Pg 34]

RUN, NIGGER, RUN!

[15] Patrollers, or white guards; on duty at night during the days of slavery; whose duty it was to see that slaves without permission to go, stayed at home.

SHAKE THE PERSIMMONS DOWN

THE COW NEEDS A TAIL IN FLY-TIME

[Pg 36]

JAYBIRD DIED WITH THE WHOOPING COUGH

[Pg 37]

WANTED! CORNBREAD AND COON

LITTLE RED HEN

RATION DAY

[Pg 39]

MY FIDDLE

DIE IN THE PIG-PEN FIGHTING

[Pg 40]

MASTER IS SIX FEET ONE WAY

FOX AND GEESE

GOOSEBERRY WINE

[Pg 42]

I'D RATHER BE A NEGRO THAN A POOR WHITE MAN

[16] Names applied by Negroes to the poorer class of white people in the South.

THE HUNTING CAMP

THE ARK

GRAY AND BLACK HORSES

[Pg 46]

RATTLER

BROTHER BEN AND SISTER SAL

SIMON SLICK'S MULE

NOBODY LOOKING

[Pg 49]

HOECAKE

[Pg 50]

I WENT DOWN THE ROAD

THE OLD HEN CACKLED

I LOVE SOMEBODY

[Pg 52]

WE ARE "ALL THE GO"

[Pg 53]

AUNT DINAH DRUNK

[Pg 54]

THE OLD WOMAN IN THE HILLS

[Pg 55]

A SICK WIFE

MY WONDERFUL TRAVEL

[17] I WOULD NOT MARRY A BLACK GIRL

[17] For discussion see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

[Pg 57]

HARVEST SONG

[Pg 58]

YEAR OF JUBILEE

[18] Kingdom Come = Freedom.

[Pg 59]

SHEEP SHELL CORN

[19] Hant = spirit or ghost.

PLASTER

UNCLE NED

[Pg 62]

THE MASTER'S "STOLEN" COAT

[20] Stole, here, means taken temporarily with intention to return.

[Pg 63]

[21] I WOULDN'T MARRY A YELLOW OR A WHITE NEGRO GIRL

[21] For discussion see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

[22] "Black" here is not the real name. This name is applied because of the complexion of the girls to whom it was sung.

DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS

THE OLD SECTION BOSS

[Pg 66]

THE NEGRO AND THE POLICEMAN

[Pg 67]

HAM BEATS ALL MEAT

[Pg 68]

SUZE ANN

[23] Jubal Jew is a kind of dance step.

WALK TOM WILSON

CHICKEN PIE

I AM NOT GOING TO HOBO ANY MORE

FORTY-FOUR

[Pg 73]

Play Rhyme Section

BLINDFOLD PLAY CHANT

FOX AND GEESE PLAY

[24] For explanation of "call," and "sponse," see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

[Pg 74]

HAWK AND CHICKENS PLAY

[25] For explanation of "call," and "sponse," see Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

CAUGHT BY THE WITCH PLAY

[Pg 75]

[26] GOOSIE-GANDER PLAY RHYME

[26] For explanation read the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

HAWK AND BUZZARD

[Pg 76]

LIKES AND DISLIKES

SUSIE GIRL

SUSAN JANE

[Pg 78]

PEEP SQUIRREL

DID YOU FEED MY COW?

A BUDGET

THE OLD BLACK GNATS

[Pg 81]

SUGAR LOAF TEA

[27] Nicknames applied in imagination to the women engaged in playing in the Play Song.

GREEN OAK TREE! ROCKY'O

[Pg 82]

KISSING SONG

KNEEL ON THIS CARPET

[Pg 83]

SALT RISING BREAD

[Pg 84]

PRECIOUS THINGS

[28] Grecian Bend.

HE LOVES SUGAR AND TEA

HERE COMES A YOUNG MAN COURTING

[Pg 87]

ANCHOR LINE

SALLIE

[Pg 88]

[29] SONG TO THE RUNAWAY SLAVE

[29] The story went among Negroes that a runaway slave husband returned every night, and knocked on the window of his wife's cabin to get food. Other slaves having betrayed the secret that he was still in the vicinity, he was sold in the woods to a slave trader at reduced price. This trader was to come next day with bloodhounds to hunt him down. On the night after the sale, when the runaway slave husband knocked, the slave wife pinched their baby to make it cry. Then she sang the above song (as if singing to the baby), so that he might, if possible, effect his escape.

DOWN IN THE LONESOME GARDEN

[Pg 90]

LITTLE SISTER, WON'T YOU MARRY ME?

RAISE A "RUCUS" TO-NIGHT

[Pg 92]

SWEET PINKS AND ROSES

[Pg 93]

Pastime Rhyme Section

SATAN

JOHNNY BIGFOOT

[Pg 94]

THE THRIFTY SLAVE

WILD NEGRO BILL

[Pg 95]

YOU LOVE YOUR GIRL

FRIGHTENED AWAY FROM A CHICKEN-ROOST

[Pg 96]

BEDBUG

HOW TO GET TO GLORY LAND

[Pg 97]

DESTITUTE FORMER SLAVE OWNERS

FATTENING FROGS FOR SNAKES

[Pg 98]

THE MULE'S KICK

CHRISTMAS TURKEY

[Pg 99]

A FULL POCKETBOOK

NO ROOM TO POKE FUN

CROOKED NOSE JANE

[Pg 100]

BAD FEATURES

MISS SLIPPY SLOPPY

[Pg 101]

HOW TO MAKE IT RAIN

A WIND-BAG

GOING TO BE GOOD SLAVES

[Pg 102]

[30]PAGE'S GEESE

[30] The Northern soldiers during the Civil War took all of a Southern planter's geese except one lone gander. They put one penny, for each goose taken, into a small bag and tied this bag around the gander's neck. They then sent him home to his owner with the pay of one penny for each goose taken. The Negroes of the community at once made up this little song.

TO WIN A YELLOW GIRL

SEX LAUGH

[Pg 103]

OUTRUNNING THE DEVIL

[Pg 104]

HOW TO KEEP OR KILL THE DEVIL

[Pg 105]

JOHN HENRY

[Pg 106]

[31]THE NASHVILLE LADIES

[31] The name of the place was used where the rhyme was repeated.

THE RASCAL

[Pg 107]

COFFEE GROWS ON WHITE FOLKS' TREES

AUNT JEMIMA

[Pg 108]

THE MULE'S NATURE

I'M A "ROUND-TOWN" GENTLEMAN

THIS SUN IS HOT

[Pg 109]

UNCLE JERRY FANTS

KEPT BUSY

CROSSING A FOOT-LOG

[Pg 110]

WATERMELON PREFERRED

"THEY STEAL" GOSSIP

[Pg 111]

FOX AND RABBIT DRINKING PROPOSITIONS

A TURKEY FUNERAL

[Pg 112]

OUR OLD MULE

THE COLLEGE OX

CARE IN BREAD-MAKING

[Pg 113]

WHY LOOK AT ME?

A SHORT LETTER

DOES MONEY TALK?

[Pg 114]

I'LL EAT WHEN I'M HUNGRY

HEAR-SAY

[Pg 115]

NEGRO SOLDIER'S CIVIL WAR CHANT

[32] Abraham Lincoln.

PARODY ON "NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"

[Pg 116]

I'LL GET YOU, RABBIT!

THE ELEPHANT

[Pg 117]

A FEW NEGROES BY STATES

HOW TO PLEASE A PREACHER

[Pg 118]

LOOKING FOR A FIGHT

I'LL WEAR ME A COTTON DRESS

[33] Copperse is copperas, or sulphate of iron.

[Pg 120]

HALF WAY DOINGS

TWO TIMES ONE

[Pg 122]

HE PAID ME SEVEN (PARODY)

PARODY ON "REIGN, MASTER JESUS, REIGN!"

[Pg 123]

A REQUEST TO SELL

WE'LL STICK TO THE HOE

A FINE PLASTER

[Pg 125]

A DAY'S HAPPINESS

[Pg 126]

MASTER KILLED A BIG BULL

YOU HAD BETTER MIND MASTER

[Pg 127]

Love Rhyme Section

PRETTY LITTLE PINK

A BITTER LOVERS' QUARREL—ONE SIDE

[Pg 128]

ROSES RED

YOU HAVE MADE ME WEEP

[Pg 129]

MOURNING SLAVE FIANCEES

DO I LOVE YOU?

LOVERS' GOOD-NIGHT

[Pg 130]

VINIE

[Pg 131]

Love Song Rhyme Section

SHE HUGGED ME AND KISSED ME

[Pg 132]

IT IS HARD TO LOVE

ME AND MY LOVER

[Pg 133]

I WISH I WAS AN APPLE

[Pg 134]

REJECTED BY ELIZA JANE

[34] Sack = To reject as a lover.

[Pg 135]

Courtship Rhyme Section

ANTEBELLUM COURTSHIP INQUIRY

INVITED TO TAKE THE ESCORT'S ARM

[Pg 136]

SPARKING OR COURTING

A CLANDESTINE LETTER

[Pg 137]

ANTEBELLUM MARRIAGE PROPOSAL (A proposal of marriage with the answer deferred)

IF YOU FROWN

[Pg 138]

"LET'S MARRY" COURTSHIP (A proposal of marriage, with a provisional acceptance)

COURTSHIP (A proposal of marriage with its acceptance)

[35] Cravenate = consider.

I WALKED THE ROADS

[Pg 140]

PRESENTING A HAT TO PHOEBE

WOOING

[Pg 141]

Courtship Song Rhyme Section

THE COURTING BOY

[Pg 142]

PRETTY POLLY ANN

[Pg 143]

Marriage Rhyme Section

SLAVE MARRIAGE CEREMONY SUPPLEMENT

[Pg 144]

Married Life Rhyme Section

THE NEWLY WEDS

WHEN I GO TO MARRY

[Pg 145]

BOUGHT ME A WIFE

WHEN I WAS A "ROUSTABOUT"

[Pg 147]

MY FIRST AND MY SECOND WIFE

GOOD-BY, WIFE!

[Pg 149]

Nursery Rhyme Section

[36]AWFUL HARBINGERS

[36] This little rhyme is based upon a superstition once current among Negroes, to the effect that bad luck would come when a screech owl called near your home at night unless, upon hearing him, you would stick the handle of a shovel into the fire about which you were sitting, or would throw salt into it. The word "hant" means ghost or spirit.

THE LAST OF JACK

[Pg 150]

LITTLE DOGS

MY DOG, CUFF

[Pg 151]

SAM IS A CLEVER FELLOW

THE GREAT OWL'S SONG

[Pg 153]

HERE I STAND

PIG TAIL

[Pg 154]

A, B, C

NEGRO BAKER MAN

[Pg 155]

STICK-A-MA-STEW

BOB-WHITE'S SONG

[Pg 156]

COOKING DINNER

CHUCK WILL'S WIDOW SONG

[Pg 157]

BRIDLE UP A RAT

MY LITTLE PIG

[Pg 158]

IN A MULBERRY TREE

[37] Titterer means laugh.

ANIMAL ATTIRE

[Pg 159]

ASPIRATION

ANIMAL FAIR

LITTLE BOY WHO COULDN'T COUNT SEVEN

[Pg 162]

MISS TERRAPIN AND MISS TOAD

FROM SLAVERY

[Pg 163]

THE END OF TEN LITTLE NEGROES

[Pg 164]

THE ALABAMA WAY

MOTHER SAYS I AM SIX YEARS OLD

[Pg 165]

THE ORIGIN OF THE SNAKE

WILD HOG HUNT

[Pg 166]

A STRANGE BROOD

THE TOWN AND THE COUNTRY BIRD

FROG IN A MILL ( [38]GUINEA OR EBO RHYME)

[38] For explanation, read the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

STRONG HANDS

[Pg 168]

TREE FROGS (GUINEA OR EBO RHYME)

WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY

[Pg 169]

GRASSHOPPER SENSE

YOUNG MASTER AND OLD MASTER

[Pg 170]

MY SPECKLED HEN

[39] An old superstition.

THE SNAIL'S REPLY

[Pg 171]

A STRANGE FAMILY

GOOD-BY, RING

DEEDLE, DUMPLING

[Pg 172]

BUCK AND BERRY

PRETTY LITTLE GIRL

[Pg 173]

TWO SICK NEGRO BOYS

GRASSHOPPER SITTING ON A SWEET POTATO VINE

[Pg 174]

DOODLE-BUG

[40]RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES

[40] Repeated to restless children at night to make them lie still and go to sleep.

MYSTERIOUS FACE WASHING

[Pg 175]

GO TO BED

[41]BUCK-EYED RABBIT! WHOOPEE!

[41] The explanation of this rhyme is found in the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

[Pg 176]

CAPTAIN COON

GUINEA GALL

[Pg 177]

FISHING SIMON

[Pg 178]

A STRANGE OLD WOMAN

IN '76

REDHEAD WOODPECKER

[Pg 179]

OLD AUNT KATE

CHILDREN'S SEATING RHYME

[Pg 180]

MY BABY

A RACE-STARTER'S RHYME

NESTING

[Pg 181]

BABY WANTS CHERRIES

A PRETTY PAIR OF CHICKENS

[Pg 182]

TOO MUCH WATERMELON

BUTTERFLY

[Pg 183]

THE HATED BLACKBIRD AND CROW

IN A RUSH

TAKING A WALK

[Pg 184]

PAYING DEBTS WITH KICKS

GETTING TEN NEGRO BOYS TOGETHER

[Pg 185]

HAWK AND CHICKENS

MUD-LOG POND

WHAT WILL WE DO FOR BACON?

[Pg 186]

A LITTLE PICKANINNY

[42] Pickanniny appears to have been an African word used by the early American slaves for the word baby.

[43]DON'T SING BEFORE BREAKFAST

[43] A superstition.

[Pg 187]

MY FOLKS AND YOUR FOLKS

LITTLE SLEEPING NEGROES

[Pg 188]

MAMMA'S DARLING

STEALING A RIDE

[Pg 189]

WASHING MAMMA'S DISHES

WILLIE WEE

[Pg 190]

ONE NEGRO THEME SUNG WITH "FROG WENT A-COURTING"

[Listen]

FROG WENT A-COURTING

[Pg 196]

SHOO! SHOO!

FLAP-JACKS

TEACHING TABLE MANNERS

MISS BLODGER

THE LITTLE NEGRO FLY

[Pg 200]

DESTINIES OF GOOD AND BAD CHILDREN

[44] Segashuate means associate with.

[45] Read first stanza of "Sheep Shell Corn," to know of ole man Joe.

BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR LUCK

[46] This last stanza embodies one of the old superstitions.

[47]PERIWINKLE