The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-04-04
NEGRO SINGING.

In every negro church here are two or
three male and female singers whose
voices give them place as leaders. They
are proud of this prominence, and devote
many of their hours to memorizing the
words and tunes. Their memories as to
both are prodigious, and it is striking
proof of the hold that song has upon
them that often only with the utmost
difficulty have i been able to get the
words from them without singing. "Can
sing de hymn night off to yer, boss" said
one to me, recently, "but fin it mighty
hard to recite de words widout de tune. :"
The precision in time of a negro congre-
cation is absolutely marvellous for so un-
trained body. Every note is hit with
exquisite accuracy, and in their antiph-
onal hymns, when the men sing line
and the women respond, the intervals are
perfect Though their tunes are very
simple, and range through but q few
notes, the wonderful fiexibility of some
of their voices produces almost the result
on the ear of scientific singing; and no
trained white choir can begin to pro-
duce the general effect of these negro
hymns rendered by the men and women
who have sung them from childhood.
The rich voices of the famous Jubilee
Singers are blended here with two pecu-
liar tones that have never heard else
where-one a kind of nasal elevation OF
the voice as the male singer utters most
singular Grasp" through his nostril, the
other female note pitched 80 high that
It is more like steel scratching q slate
than q human voice.
Very few of these hymns ever deal
with anything but imagery and Scrip
tural pictures But now and then Is
found one with q moral tone, like the
following, aimed at the religious back
alder:
Some Join de church to put on pretents,
Until de day OF grace Is spent;
Ondsyy come come asy its Rssten ioss dep ssiss
De debbn gets dem, they roll up de sieeva
Ole a nan Adam iss has M neb6er ! o BEEN cen o. out
When guilt condemns dem dey gitup andout
Stilfanother class of hymns blends the
secular and religious sentiment A
trifing and utterly nonsensical set of
lines is closed with some religious eIela-
nation which appears to be the only
sanction for the use of the queer medley
In worship: E
Big ole black man hidin' hind de log.
Finger on sSfloSf Ss oafssi sstSsi sSs upon os hos'
4 better illustration is the following:
Good bye eberybody;
don't care what yer call me
Yer may call me loug-tongue liar,
BUT Fse going TO Zion Halieloof
The procivity of the negro for railroad
metaphor, which i have heretofore
spoken of, is disclosed also in their
hymns:
There is q road which Christ hab made,
With heavenly tresties the rails Is laid;
Some of these hymns are spun out to
snormouslength, particularly those set to
q popular melody. / have often heard q
ingle hymn sung rapidly without repe-
tition of single stanza for half an hour.
One composition has q stanza for each
letter of the alphabet:
for Babylon, dat wicked place,
She was stroyed In forty days
And 30 on through all the letters of the
alphabet. OF course, John the Baptist Is
q prominent subject here in hymnology
and one religious song with grand,
swinging melody stands, perhaps, first In
merit and popularity as well as length.
It Is called the "John de Baptist Song, "
and Is worth quotation of several stanzas:
His name was John de Baptist
And out OF de water he sprung
When Jesus come 70 tell him
To fetch his people home.
CHORUS: Den run along on to Jesus
Den run along on to God
Den run along on to Jesus,
And get your sure reward
Some say a. John de Baptist
But de Holy Bible tells us
Dat John was preacher, too
Te wainn' al de night long
Pse wattin' al de day
Pse vaitin' all de night long
To hear one sinner pray.
Den. please, God, save our country,
Our church, and pastor, too,
Our elders, and our deacons,
And AL our Baptist crew.
Moses and the prophets of the Old
Testament are also favorite characters:
o Nosesi Aosesi
Don't get lost;
stretch out yer rod
And come acroes.
Danieli Danieli
Get out de nre,.
KIN dem lions
And 90 up higher.
One of the most melodious of the negro
songs Is made doubly effective by respon-
ave singing, the women chanting the 30
Lordl Yes,n and the males rendering the
alternate lines, while both sexes Join in
the chorus:
AsIvas a waIkfn' out one day,
D Lordi Yes
see dem grapes hangin' high.
Iplucked dem srsPes and sucked Do juice
De juice was sweet as honey meat,
Lordi Yes
CzoKus:
See me here, believe me; see me here;
An round de altar, see me here.
jew KIN my Saviour
One day fore know;
Bury Him In sepulcree.
One day fore know.
One hymn that glows throughout with
fervid negro imagery opens:
When de star from de elemunts 10 fallin'
6s % .aa .nnssi Ss n18a sseee R1 Il s:n
wid . rainbow on HIS shoulder.
According to white authority here, the
religious song first published yean ago by
Mr.. Harris, the "Uncle Remus" Of the
Atlanta Consfitafion, and entitled 'sUncle
RemuSs Revival Hymn" il largely de
rived from actual lines sung by the ne
Rroes and cleverly united. 1t difien
from all the other negro hymns / have
heard in having variations OF the chorus
A perhaps the best negro hymn evel
printed, two or three of It's characteristic
stanzas, given roughly from memory
may fitly close these selections:
o, vhar WIN ye be when de great day comes,
Wild de toottn' Of de trumpets an de rollin' Of
Fun many a poor sinnah win be cotched on
An I'M no latch to de golden gate.
CHORUS
1ss Den ssss sS@s ;siG1Ds 1o s,1nan. inn ysr S9nin;
SIN Il sharp q bamboo brter;
o, de song Of salvation Is a mighty sweet sons
STRONG.