ON THE TRAIL OF NEGRO FOLK-SONGS

A Collection Of Negro Traditional & Folk Songs with Sheet Music Lyrics & Commentaries - online book

	NEGRO FOLK-SONGS	19
	ain't. Mister 'Polyte kicked me on de hip. I done limped ever since. I war eighteen then." "Were the slave-owners very cruel to their slaves?" I asked him. " Some of 'em was," he answered. " 01' Marse------would grease 'em with tallow and whup 'em till de blood run down. Den he would spread tallow over 'em and hoF a candle to it and burn 'em. De white folks took him up in law about it. " Mister Alec had an overseer he called Mr. Cobb. His head 'most reached up to dat j'ist dere. He whipped Niggers wid a saw. Mr. Alec turned him off. Some of de free mulattoes was mo' cruel to deir slaves dan white folks." Uncle Israel sang various songs for me. AFRICAN COUNTING SONG
	Nin-ni non-no si-du-bi Sa-bi du - te si-mun - gi. Ninni nonno simungi, Ninni nonno simungi, Ninni nonno sidubi sabadute simungi. Ninni nonno simungi, Ninni nonno simungi, Ninni nonno sidubi sabadute simungi. "Dat Js ol' African. I learned it fum my mother. She come telling us all these little tales. That was a count. The old outlandish man counted. When you said dat twice, dat's ten. My mother learned it fum an African fum her country." Uncle Israel gave another song, which he said was African, but it is largely a mixture, of course, if there is any African in it. All along, all along, all along, Linked in blue. I bet any man a pint of brandy All of me marks will be thirty-two. Uncle Israel says, "Dat means a man countin' in his language in African."