The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-12-24
Do yo' talkin' arter while

''De niger mus be, for fac,
Own cousin to a jumpin' jack =
On, on. the restless fiddle sounds
Still chorused by the ours and hounds
Dance after dance succeeding fast,
Till supper is announced at last.
That scene-but why attempt to show 1t
The most inventive modern poet,
! In fine new words whose hope and trust Is,
Could form no phrase to do it justice!
When supper ends--that is not soon
| The fiddle strikes the same old tune;
The dancers pound the floor again,
With all they have of might and main;
Old gossips, almost, turning pale
Attend Aunt Cassy's gruesome tale
Of coniurors, and ghosts, and devils,
That in the smokehouse hold their revels;
Each drowsy baby droops his head,
Yet scorns the very thought Of bed =
So wears the night and wears so fast,
All wonder when they find it passed,
And hear the signal sound, to go,
From what few cocks are left to crow.
Then, one and all, you hear them shout:
Eli! Booker fotch de banjo out,
An glib us one song fore we goes
One OBJ de berry bes' you knows !!
Responding to the welcome call,
He takes the banjo from the wall,
And tunes the strings with skill and care
Then strikes them with masters air:
And tells, in melody and rhyme,
This legend of the oden time
Go way, fiddle folks is tired o hearin
you a-squawkin.
Keep silence fur yo' betters-don't you heah
de banjo talkin'
About de possum;s tail, she's gwine to lecter
ladies, listen
About de hair what isn't dar, an why de ha +
is missin:
Oars gwine to be a oberfow, said Noah,
lookin solemn
For Noah TUX the Herald, an he read de rib
Der column
| An so he sot his hands to work a cl arin
timber patches,
An lowed he's gwine to build a boat to beat
de steamah ''Natchez.
or Noah KEEP a-naiIin', an achippin an, a
sawin:
An all de wicked neighbors KEEP a-laughin
an a-pshawin'
But Noah didn't min 'em-knowim whut
wuz gwine to happen:
An forty days an forty nights de rain it KEEP
a-drappin.
Now, Noah had done cotched lot oh ebry
sort O beas'e
Oh all de shows a-trabbelin, it beat EN- all TO
pieces !
He had Morgan colt, an sebral head
O Jarsey cattle
| An druv EN- board de Ark as soon's he
heered de thunder rattle.
Den sech anoder fall oh rain lit come so
awful hebby,
De rbbe riz immeitly, an busted trOo de
lebbee;
De people all wuz drowned out-'cep' Noah
an de critters,
An men he'd hired to work de boat-an one
to mix de bitters.
De Ark she KEEP a-sailin', an a-sailin, an
a-sailin:
De lion got his dander up, an like to bruk
de palm
De sarpints hissed-de painters yeled-tell,
what wild all de ,ffussin',
Now, Ham, de only niger whut wuz runnin'
on de packet,
Got lonesome in de barber-shop, an c'u'nd't
stan de racket
| An so for to amuse he self, he steamed some
wood an bent it,
An soon he had banjo made-de fust dat
wuz invented.
de edder, stretched it on; made
bridge, an screws, an apron;
An fitted in proper neck-'twuz berry long
an tap'rin';
He tux some tin, an twisted him thimbe
for TO ring it:
An den de mighty question riz how wuz he
gwine to string it?
De possum had as fine tail as dis dat Is a.
singin;
De hal so long, an, thick, an strong,-des
fit for banio-stringin';
An sorted OBJ 'em by de size, frum little Els
to BASES.
He strung her, tuned her, struck iig,-'twas
"Nebber min de wedder''--
She SCUM like forty-lebben bands plain all
togedder;
Some went to pattin'; some to dancin'; Noah
called de fggers-
An Ham he sot an knocked de tune. de hap-
piest oh niggers
now sence dat hme-lt's mighty strange
dsre's not de slightes' shown
Oh any hair at all upon de possum's tail a.
CROWN;
An curtis, oo,-dat nigger's ways his peo
pie nebber los EN-
For whar you finds de nigger-dar's de banjo
an de possum
The night is spent; and as the day
throws up the hrst faint flash of gray,
The guests pursue their homeward way;
And through the field beyond the gin,
Just as the stars are going in,
See Santa Claus departing-grieving-
His own dear Land of Cotton leaving.
His work is done--he fain would rest,
Where people know and love him best
He -listens-looks about
But go he must his pass is out;
So, coughing down the rising tears,
He climbs the fence and disappears.
And thus observes colored youth
The common sentiment, in sooth):
oh? what blessin' twu'd ha' been.
Of Sanity had been born a twin
We'd hab two Chrismuses yeah
Dr. traps one brudder'd settle heah -
Christmas Dont's