Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-02-12
THE 'POSSUM.
And Why He Has No Hair On His

And why ne 7as NO naiT vi U's
Though the honor Of giving the
possum his first mention in history Is
ascribed to Captain John Smith, it was
Irwin Russell, the Mississippi poet,
who Joel Chandler Harris long ago
said was the first to appreciate the
possibilities Of negro dialect work,
who first gave the southern marsupial
a place in literature.
In his christmas Night in the
Quarters" Russells admirable por-
trayal of plantation life on the Mis-
sissippi, one of the most attractive
sections Is that in which old Booker,
a banjo player of great reputation, en-
livens the quarter hall with story Of
the origin Of the banjo, which also an
swers the weighty question Of why
the possum has no hair on his tail.
Just now when the Georgia possum
Is in such prime favor, these verses
will doubtless be read with great in
terest:
Go way, fiddle! folks is tired O. hear
in you a-Squakin',
Keep silence fur yo' betters! don't you
heah de banjo talkin'?
About de possum's tail she's gwine to
lectur-ladies, listen!-
About de ha'r whut isn't dar, an why
de ha'r Is missin';
Oars gwine to be a oberflow," said
Noah, lookin' solemn
Fur Noah TUX the Herald an he read
de ribber column
An so he sot his hands to wuk a-clar-
in timber patches,
An lowed he's gwine to build boat
to beat the steamah Natchez.
or Noah KEEP a-nailin' an a-'chippin'
and a-sawin',
An ali de wicked neighbors kept a.
laughin' and a-pshawin';
But Noah didn't mind 'em, KNOWN
whut wuz gwine to happen;
An forty days an forty nights de rain
it KEEP a-drappin'.
Now, Noah had done cotched a lot OBJ
ebery sort o beas'es-
OBJ all de shows a-trabbelin', it beat
'em all to pieces!
He had Morgan colt, an sebral head
O. Jersey cattle
An druv 'em board de Ark as soon's
he heered de thunder rattle.
Den sech anoder fall OBJ rain!-it come
so awful hebby,
De ribber riz immejitely, an busted
tro de lebbee;
De people all wuz drownded out
'cep' Noah and 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 yelled;
tell whut wild all de fussin',
You c'u'dn't hardly heah de mate a.
bossin' round an cussin'.
Now, Ham, de ony niger whut wuz
runnin' on de packet,
Got lonesome in de barber shop, an
c'u'dn't stan de racket;
An so, fur to amuse he-sef, he steam
ed some wood an bent it,
An soon he had a banjo made-de
fust dat wuz invented.
He wet de ledder, stretched II on; maze
bridge an screws an aprin;
An fitted in a proper neck-'twuz
berry long an tap'rin';
He TUX some tin, an twisted him a
thimble fur 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
rs singin';
He hairs so long an thick an strong
de fit fur banjo-stringin';
Dat niger shaved 'em off as short as
wash-day-dinner graces;
An sorted OBJ 'em by de size, f'om lit
tie Els to basSes.
He strung her, tuned her, struck a Jig
'twus "Neber min de wedder"-
She SCUM like forty-lebben bands a
playin' all togedder;
Some went to pattin'; some to dane
in; Noah called de figgers;
An Ham he sot an knocked de tune,
de happiest OBJ niggers!
Now, sence dat time-its mighty
strange-dere's not de slightest
shown
OBJ any ha'r at all upon de possum' s
tail a-growin';
An curtis, too, dat nigger's ways; his
people nebber los EN-
Fur whar you finds de nigger-dar's S
de banjo an de possum!
Atlanta Constitution.