Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-05-24
ALABANA'S AFRICA.
QUEER LULLABIEs SUNG TO THE LIT
TIE PICKANINNIEs.
Circumstances Under Which the Darky
Young Hopefuls are Reared in
the Great Black Belt.

about those who do not by any means
tread such sweet, soft, scented paths, writes
Eli Shepperd to the Age-Herald. OF all
the numberless infants of all the numbers
of races of earth few tread harder road
than do the black pickaninnies of the
black belt plantations of the South. SUI
perstition and ignorance are the fairy
god-mothers of these dusky children
Conjure doctors and root doctors are the
physicians that cure or kill them of their
youthful indisposition. On these ''places, .
as the great tracts of farm and falIow-6eld
are called, there are always numbers OF
alleged coDjurers, conjure-curers and
witches, therefore it follows that the first
thing to be done to the infant is to pro-
teet it from the wiles of the coniurer
For this its dark mother will tie around
its neck cord to which is attached a
"luck dime" Lucky the child who has
this piece of fortunate coin tied early
about him; it is next good to being born
"with golden spoon in the mouth"
Another "charm" that one often sees
about the children's Threats, besides the
'luck-dime," is a dogs tooth, warranted to
make teeth come without pain. Some
times the left hind foot of a rabbit is
sewed into child's garment, this to make
the little one grow rapidly; and sometimes
dark mother Will rub her child with
pot liquor" this to give strength. When
teeth begin to make their appearance va
rious 'charmings" are resorted to; a "wood-
sawyer" soft pulpY worm that loves to
bore into the bark of pine trees, is often
procured and, alive as il is, is tied about
the neck and left there until it dies: this,
it is alleged, viii make "teeth come easy
On the principal Of an ounce of preven-
ton, an infant is not allowed to look into
mirror, or to even wear a mans hat, for
either Of these simple acts are considered
potent in making child "teeth hard"
The mother who wishes her child to walk
early will, on rising at daybreak, take it TO
the cabin door, and placing its feet on the
edge of the door stop, viii sweep off its in
step with straw broken from broom, or,
perhaps, will mint de foots wild fair spit
tie" Either of these eneouragements to
locomotion must be practiced before the
mother has spoken word.
What queer lullabies are sung to these
dark morsels of humanity. | fancy if
little pickaninnies were not accustomed to
such songs they would often be too amused
at the queer tumble of words to sleep by
them. Listen to this sleepy song:
Only lady in dis town
Able 20 wear blue silk gown
LOOK at her when she turn aroun'
De heel OF her shoe cut hole in de groun'
Little lady, eye so black,
Eye ez bright ez bran new tack
stick in de heart, run tn 90 de back
De shine of her eye cut hole fer fac.
Hey, miss lady, ear so small,
Not so big as sweet gnat ball,
Big enough hear when Mistis call
DE moekin bird sing an de peacock squau.
o miss lady, foots so swirl
Make Dat music SCUM slow an stiff
o glib dat mcclure lighter lif
dancin down whar de sunshines shift
No idea Of the sweetness of the sing
ing can be given by the silly words or
gingling rhyme. Beautiful voices and
beautiful wild airs to sing are given to the
African. Even words absurd as these that
follow are sometimes welded to rarely
beautiful melody:
Ring up de ring,
Jire in an sing
Four couples jine in
so single, jine in
King up, Jlne in
60 hoppin jine in
Go skippin', jine in
Young lady. jine IN
Young gem men jine in
Ring up de ring,
Jine in an sing.
Den heah we go
Slowly, lowly, lowly, oh
On dis sweet and chatterin groun',
Slowly Slowly roun' and Toun'-
put my right foot out;
turn my left foot about;
give my right foot a stomp, stomp, stomp,
An give my left foot a tromp. tromp, tromp.
Sometime sometime
Sometime sometime
A little hand sometime, sometime kin rule de
country
My love, jine in
My dove. line in
Little Mistis don't you cry
fo sweethear.'n come by-m-by!
Ever when twilight shakes out her pur-
pie wings over those humble cabin homes;
when hazes born of darkness and distance
fall closer to the faces of the wide-stretch-
ing field; when the breezes of the night
make even cooler and fresher than the
ceaseless wind that has all day tossed the
light-blue hazes to and fro above the wav-
ing acres of yellow "nigger-heads" and
white Chilean clover, their many, many
tOiISc al ldlStu III SOuSS ike tQlS
Wbar is dat butterfly?
Wings shut when night is nigh,
stars shinin up so high,
Sleep, baby, sleep.
Lightnin' bugs on de wing,
Night birds begin TO sing,
Moon shinin' in dat spring,
Deep, missy, deep.
Mule sleepin' in dat stall,
Chain hangin' gaipst dat wall,
Plow restin', hoe an all.
Creep, mousie, creep.
Coon in dat holler tree,
Begin ter peep aud see
Whar misses chickens be,
Peep, cooney, peep.
Day birds is gone to roos
Night birds is Hyin' loose,
Day sets dat patrole goose,
Sleep, baby, sleep.
If in waking hours the child has shown
undue fear of snake, the parent will
endeavor TO cure him of his fear by put.
ting into his crib a snake that is harmless
allowing the creature to stay there all
night, on the superstition that familiarity
will forbid fear. A skin shed By snake
is considered TO bear virtue to cure variou:
ailments, but snake skin slipped by ma.
licious hands into a child's bonnet or hat
will deprive the wearer of eyesight
Imagine, then, how carefully a mothe,
will examine child's headgear ere it i.
donned Children who are losing teeth
are told by wrinkled old mammies to care
fully preserve the teeth until they reach a
fire; then, standing with back to the blaze
the child must say:
Lord. see
What you gave me-"
Without looking back, he must throw
the tooth into the blaze; this will insure g
new and pretty tooth to replace the lost
one.
To cure toothache the child who suffer,
must rub his aching jaw with the iawbont
of hog. Or he must put into his tooth a
bit OF the "night-eye of the left hind hee
of the meanest mule on the plantation.
Or he must cut his gum until it bleeds with