The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1912-07-12
GAVIN
sHUCK|N'
BIC EVENT
PLANTATION TIMES RE.
CALLED BY OLD PLANTER
GAVIN" SONGS

'One OF the DlS pldnldtioH fNtiltN
in the South before the war was the
ltawn shuckin' which occurred every
late fall" said Major j. 5. Crawford.
,oi Austin Tex, commenting upon the
SOuthwests prospective yield this
year. Generally speaking, the only
crop associated with the southern
states is cotton, and while wide
spread devotion to the staple for
many generations has been quite ap-
Iparent, corn has always been an agrl-
Clltural factor down there, furnishing
! food for both man and beast In
Georgia we used to get from thirty to
f rty bushels per acre.
, 1T was a gala day on the planta-
| tons when the corn was being pulled
! rom the stalks in the field and haul
cd to cribs, for the slaves knew that
not far distant was the shucMn' time,
an occasion which they regarded with
glad anticipation. We always had
two cribs, one for the nubbins, which
iwere fed TO swine the other for bet
ter grade and fully developed ears,
either to be ground into meal or fed
to the work stock. and in front OF
them the corn was laid in great piles
with ample room for the workers
When the plantation owner fixed the
date for the shuckin' his slaves would
extend an invitation to those Of
ncighboring plantation to join them
N the task
A Dram At Intervals
At intervals the marster would pass
around dram from the plantation
barrel. and when work was finished
ian hands were marshaled on either
de of long tables for the feast sery.
ed by the black women of the place
or course, there was pure reciprocity
in the situation and when q neighbor
ing plantation held its shuckin our
slaves accepted an invitation to help
out, always remembering that ii
meant a big feed and a dram, and
sometimes two.
"Shuckins were held after dark by
light of pine knots. Two or three
fire stands were erected by the corn
Lies. upon which dirt was laid, so
When the knots burned down the
stand could not take dres For several
days the slaves selected pine knots,
taking care that they would ignite
easily and burn brightly Each torch
would burn for about thirty minutes
and while it was going good the fires
gov could be seen for miles about
Il have seen fifty blacks Workine
around corn piles from dusk until
midnight pulling shucks off the ears,
and tossing the corn to boys to be
thrown into the cribs or, if they
were especially fast workers. the
1niHnln how HicpnnCaI ,,,tt
the shucker threw his own corn. All
this was done to tune quaint in har
mony, and in rhyme They were
called Gavin songs. can think of
nHt one:
A "Cawn song"
Long cum de bird, long cum de
duck,
Gavin in yo lef han pull away de
shuck--
Fird flew east, duck flew west,
Shuckin' in de nighttime, shuckln's
best.
Harster lookin' over dis way,
Black man workin fur his pay
When de Lawd cum, he cum on de
sly
An Wahta get de Gavin shucked afore
ah die
'hoebe, chile, ah hub 70 true:
lhoebe, c-h III e, all suahly do
rms was of many verses-sung to |
tWanging accompaniment PLAYED on |
stringed instrument, with a sort of |
hang FIRE note when IT came to the
chile and the house folks would sit
by in the lights glare and enjoy 1t |
IS much as did the singers AS soon
IS the last nubbin twirled through
he air into the crib. up went a rous.
ng shout, and the plantation owner
vas hoisted to the slaves shoulders,
nd they paraded through and about
he big house. chanting their melo-
lies and apostrophes to the maize"