ON THE TRAIL OF NEGRO FOLK-SONGS

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134	NEGRO FOLK-SONGS

Chorus Mr. Banks, he loves sugar and tea, Mr. Banks, he loves candy. Mr. Banks he can whirl around And kiss the girls so handy. Dog in the wood, Barking at the squirrel; Roses are red and violet blue, Sugar is sweet and so are you.		Chorus

We're walking, We're walking down our true love's lane; Oh, chillum, let us be happy, For we may not hunt again. Chorus This was sung with a kissing-game. The name would be changed for each boy, who would pick another girl. A line was formed on each side, making an aisle, in which the singer acted the motions of the dog and the squirrel in the wood. Mr. John Stone, of Mountfair, Virginia, president of the Virginia Folk-lore Society, sends me a couple of game-songs. " Several years ago while hunting ballads I found two singing-games of darky origin that may be of use to you. "In one game two people skip around a tree and sing: "Hop, old squirrel, eidle-dum, eidle-dum, Hop, old squirrel, eidle-dum-dum, Hop, old squirrel, eidle-dum, eidle-dum, Hop, old squirrel, eidle-dum-dee!" HOP, OLD SQUIRREL



Hop, old squirrel, eidle-dum, eidle-dum, Hop, old squirrel, eidle-dum-dee! "The second tries to catch the first. The song was given to me by a white lady, a descendant of William Byrd II. She had seen the darky play it. Afterwards I persuaded an old colored woman to show me how it was played. Words are improvised for it. She sang various things, such as: