Wild game is a possible ingredient of burgoo. One compared it to the children s story Stone Soup. In the story there is a supposedly magic stone that makes soup. The trick was to get folks to get adding vegetables, like onions and potatoes, to the mixture. Another term I first heard in Kentucky is varmint suppers where wild game is served.
Politicians like to show up at varmint dinners to show they are of the people.
Here Mr. Carter is talking about the dangers of working the fields. The worst was sunstroke, which we called the bear. The bear got Ed Washington was an expression of sympathy, but also a derogatory assessment of Ed s strength, vigor, and judgment. Mr. Carter said he spoke two languages. One was heavily influenced by my playmates African heritage, with special pronunciation and inflections.