The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-12-04
EASTERN VIRGINIA.
PROSPERITY or THE cOLORED POP
ULATlON SINCE THE WAR.

The Old Slavery Songs Rapidly Dying
Out - Religious Services Material
Prosperity xtravagant Names.
The soft and weu-bred manners Of
many beautiful negro woman come from
having been in her early lie much about
the house, observing and initiating the
manners of the white family. Then the in
luence of the master and the mistress was
directed against this religious savagery
which seems natural to them. They We're
encouraged to dance and sing and 10 be
merry. In harvest time, the head man of
the long row of reapers with cleaning
scytheS, was under orders by the Oversecr
TO sing his reaping song loudly. and the
harvest field was full of melody. W hi~ky
was given out, and the harvest, which was
known "the black mans holiday was
made a season of merriment and feastiug
by the masters, who held to the sound
doctrine that cheerfulness and industry
are apt TO go together. On every plan
tatIOn were one or more fiddlers or banjo
lists, their rude music being in demand for
the white people as much as for the black
ones. A musician enjoyed many privileges
and received many little gratuities justly
credited to art
OLD SLAVERY SONGS.
Now, all this is changed The negro
nothing out of Cehenna worse than dane
ing excepting fddling and banjoing. The
devil is represented to be the original
dancing master and the father of the pro
fessiOn. The accordion is allowed, but
the banjo and fiddle are vigorously ia
AoOed. The prohibition extends to worldly
songs, and the weird melodies they
sang long years ago have given place to
Moody and Sankey hymns Their old
negroes have a natural prejudice against
them as relics and reminders of their
slave days, and so Jim Crack Corn,
Johnny Booker, jimmy Is the Hoe Cake
Done? and all of their primitive merry
songs are dead and forgotten.
An exception to their rule of forgetting
must be made in favor of the Hampton
Normal school. There, the managers APP
preciating the wild beauty of these old
plantation airs, have tried to nreserve
them and have trained q number OF singers
in them But the negroes dislike them
excess. sly and perhaps with veasGa,
They sing hymnS with genuine African
ferYOr and abandon, and at least half OF
their religious services consists of sing
ing And such singing 1t is generally
confined to member" as not to be mem
Der of a church quarantines a negro
against his own kind. The worst foe to
the civilization of the negroes is their
slavish superstition and their absolute
submission to their preachers, who are il
turn the victims OF tyranny themselves a.
the hands of INSCRIPTIONS white men.
MATERIAL PROSPERITY.
Not that the negro il not thriving in
this part of the world. On the contrary
mis- little patch OF ground, with his yoke
OfsteeI5 or mis- scrub of a horse, yield him
a good living and every year he rises g
step in material prosperity that he
has only escaped from one kind of slavery
to fall into another. They still retain their
fOndness for eXtravagant names, although
they are not as funny as formerly, as
they no longer have the white people to
suggest them. Scripture Names" as
they are called are great favOrites, among
which Ananias is not the least. When
the names of the apostles are selected,
the title is very often given too. Uncle
Apostle James, was a well known charaC-
ter in these parts. One of the planters
hereabOuts named his servants after the
dUkedOms of England, and Surrey, Nor
folk and Richmond were ColOred indivi-
duals of pOmpOsity corresponding to
their names.
Another master took a classical turn
Terence and Juvenal were in the house
and HerodOtus' place was on the coach
box Another named them in pairs. He
had not only an Ananias but Sapphire,
an Abelard and an Eloise. One day Wis
itOr at the house, not knowing this char
aCteristiC, hearing an inky black speci-
men spoken to as Laura, inquired: "Weu,
Laura, where is Petrarch?" and was cleo
trified by Laura's replying: "Petrarch, he
in de kitchen helpin' to peel de Eaters fer
dinner" At another place a romantic
mistress surrounded herself with Iris,
Melissa Venus and Cupid-the last two
especial favOrite in the way of names, so
much so that a feminine form of Cupid
was evolved. Cupid was always short
ened to Gu, and Gus female contemporary
was very apt to be named Cuetta. This
name is still common. Scott's novels
supplied the names at another plantation.
Nora Avenel, Amy Bobsart and Lucy
Aston were landmarks, Rnd the name of
the cook was Edith .Plantagenet. This
name was very much admired, and not q
syllable of it was abated, although il
gradually changed its form 10 Edith
PiautodgeT llit.-EasterH Virginia Cor.
New York Mail and Express.