The Galleon, Volume 2, Number 2, March 1926 Page: 28
48 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE GALLEON
Churning was a long and tire-
some task on the plantations.
Churns, the negroes thought,
may be hoodooed so efficiently
that the butter will never come
unless some special means be
used to life the evil charm.
"Come, butter, come!
De King an' de Queen
Is 'er standin' at de gate,
Er waitin' for some butter
An' a cake.
Oh, come butter, come !"
Wirt A. Williams furnishes
another song from Mississippi,
which introduces John Henry as
a corpse, but only to dispose of
him quickly and pass to other
problems, such as the difficulty
of dealing with women-folk and
the dangers of stealing chick-
ens.
"John Henry's Dead"
"John Henry's dead,
And de las' words he said,
"Never let your Honey
Have her way.
Way back, way back,
Way back in Alabama, way back
If you let her have her way,
She'll lead you off astray,
Keep you in trouble
All your days."
Way back, Way back,
Way back in Alabam, way back.'
The Negro, an imaginative be-
ing, to personify the things
that enter into his life. And in
his works, songs, hammer, or
hoe, churn, or anything; so he
makes a dramatic figure out of
'such a thing as a railroad train.
Its rhythmic turn of wheels in-
spires a rhythmic turn of prase
in folk-song--Better git yo' ticket,
Better git yo' ticket,
Train a-comin'
Lordee-ee-ee Lordee-ee!
Um-um-umrum Um-um-um-um
Hold your bonnet,
Hold-your shawl,
Don't let go that waterfall,
Shout, sister Betsy, shout."
If the railroad should weep
over all the woes it witnesses,
the tracks would be flooded.
One must concede that a rail-
road track is not a soft pillow,
as doubtless the 'maker' of a
song decided. This was sent
from New Orleans:
"Sweet Mamma"
"Sweet Mamma, treetop tall,
Won't you please turn your
damper down ?
I smell hotcakes burning,
Dey done burnt some brown,
I'm laid my head
On de railroad track.
I t'ought about Mamma
An' I drugged it back,
Sweet Mamma, treetop tall
Won't you please turn your
damper down !"
Irvin Cobb was at the home
of Miss Scarborough one even-
ing when a party was assembl-
ed.
He told the party that "Casey
Jones" was written by a negro
in Memphis, Tennessee, to re-
count the gallant death of "Cas-
ey Jones" an engineer who came
from Cayce, Tennessee.
"Casey Jones was an engineer
Told his fireman not to fear, all
he wanted was boiler hot,
Run in Canton 'bout four oclock.
One Sunday mornin' it was
drizzlin' rain,
Looked down de road and28
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McMurry College. The Galleon, Volume 2, Number 2, March 1926, periodical, March 1926; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth137775/m1/26/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McMurry University Library.