ON THE TRAIL OF NEGRO FOLK-SONGS

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

	NEGRO BALLADS	71
	sity, says that her father was accustomed to use the first stanza as a "waking-up" song for his children, and that she hated to hear the strains of Old Jesse start up, especially on a morning like that de­scribed in the initial stanza.
	OLD JESSE ■
	One cold an' frosty mornin' Just as de sun did riz, De possum roared, de raccoon howled, 'Cause he begun to friz. He drew hisse'f up in a knot Wid his knees up to his chin, An' ev'rything had to cFar de track, When he stretched out agin. Chorus Old Jesse was a gemman, Among de olden times. Nigger never went to free school, Nor any odder college, An' all de white folks wonder whar Dat nigger got his knowledge.