New-York tribune., 1915-12-26
A Dissection of the Old
Songs and Their Making
"Oe Bull and Ole Dan Tucker, of Two Generations
Agc-"Liy Dale" The Battle Cry of
Freedom" and the Negro Minstrel
By II. E. KREHBIEL.

v, Ky.hbiel's study of Afro
,-s.sn Folk Songs" which appeared
s-., an serial form in The Tribune In
.,rner o. 1914. the writer COM
% %,,sd on the few references 20 slav-
IN tbe folksongs Of the American
.,o.s and remarked: THE song 'Oh,
sss.Soro over Me' which DR.. Burghardt
PCS quotes IN his The Souls or
sY..t Folk as an expression OF long
Gov deliyerauce from slavery en-
..S,rs0ed By fugitive slaves and tne
..s;,s6on Of free negro leaders before
.ts War o. the Rebellion, challenges no
,,,,-sst for its musical contents, SINCE
4, 4. a compound Of two white men
,nn,,-Lily Dale sentimental dltty'
.nd The Battle Cry Of Freedom
,strio.ic song composed by George r
b., i, Chicago. and inspired by Presl-
Gsnt Incoln's second call ior yoIuh-
- the summer OF 1861. mere
rs r-.c for the negro song to have
~ ,s octween 1851 and the emanci-
s.,;on of the slaves. but it is not likely
10. slaves anywhere in the United
s..ts. outside OF the lines OF the FED
sr.l armies would have dared TO sing
% Freedom, o Freedom,
O Freedom over me-
Before III be q slave
I'M be buried in my grave
And 20 home 70 my Lord
And be free
h,,ors 1853. Besides, the song did not
,nn,sr In print. / believe. till IL was
,pbli.hed in Religious Folk songs OF
y, Negro, as Sung on the Plantation,
an edition Of Cabin and fiahtaSioh
Songs as Sung by the Hampton Stu
49, nubli,hed In 1909. The early
os'.,n,, ~ the book knew nothing OF
III song s.,.u.r, ,.sm,a conservative
.,.nsh and the evidence OF the con-
isnef melodies fairly convincing. Now
.sr., . letter from the Rev. William
p.rton, q. D., Of Oak Park, Ill, who
and, pamphlet containing two es-
..r, which he published In the New
Trrl,nd Magazine" In 1898 in one OF
rhieh the song in question occurs. 50
", Krehblsl was wrong 10 saying that
ava, not printed until 1903. But the
Raw. Mr. Barton makes an interesting
,ontribution 70 the story OF the song
vbleh We leave In his own words: 80
t,ruI knew this 10 the first printing
% that song. 1t has been pretty thor
ourbly doetored by others, however.
Tbs line % freedom over me- has no
,srt in the song as l picked 1t up In
"A, South. The words over me- do not
refer 10 q halo or vision or guardian
angel. They belong to the various oe-
niis OF the negro funeral;
40 what mourning over me,
o what preaching over me,
o what singing over me,
what shouting over me.
Moreover the concluding line is not,
And 70 homs 20 my Lord and be free
IA, word free rhyming with me
three lines back, but go home TO my
Lord and be saved making third
rhyme with slave and grave. All
Of which is interesting and valuable
and helps the contention that the song
snot old, or il old, had nothing to dc
with q passionate desire for freedom
from slavery.
II il is unhappily true for many Of
uthst we Cannot sing the old songs
here seems 10 be no reason why we
should not recall them IN memory,
even though cruelty sweet may be
"the echoes that start
When memory plays an old tune on
the heart"
The folktune arrangers are making
Us think Of this. and the "columnists'
in the newspapers, as witness +. r. A
in The Tribune a while ago. But how
thew make oldtlmers smile by their
alk Of tho songs of 1895 and there
,bouts as II they were songs which
signlAedl For such we must 20 back
20 the old days Of real negro min.
s,relsy before Jumboism had seized
upon that form Of entertainment and
We had to hear four endmen exert
themselves 70 make as many poor
Jokes as two made good ones before
hem, and eight or sixteen clog dancers
dance in silver spengles in vain ef-
fort 10 give half the thrill that one
used 20 give. What a poverty n den
tribe are the coiumnists OF to-day!
Hss one OF them recalled Bobby New
comb, with his infectious ripple Of q
lsugh while dancing an interlude In
y feel Just as happy as a Big Sun
sover"f We met Bobby Newcomb
some two decades ago at club in
New York and made him prove his
IDENTIFY by laughing off that little
ascending scale Of his, and the sad
d.st thing about the meeting was that
rot one OF the men who stood sponsor
for him that evening knew who BOBBY
NeTcomb was or Whet ne nhu oOile "
make their fathers happy!
But Neweomb belongs 70 an sdoles-
cent and even professional period. The
memory OF older names and Older
songs comes over US as we glance az a
little book without date which lies be-
fore Us called "Christy's Panorama
Songster. containing the Songs as sung
BY the Christy. Campbell. Pierce's Min
strsls and Sable Brothers" Are these
names ali doomed 10 die because they
have not gotten into the big musical
dictionary which We helped 10 edit
". hope not. Bless our souls, we
heard Campbell as q singer In grand
opera, and that there was no dis
grace attached 70 the name of mu-
sieisn who chose 70 black his face ",
the practice Of his art We learned
Years after a most serious association
With Theodore Thomas whom some
historians would have US look upon as
he father Of the symphony IN Amer,
iea). when we discovered that ne useo
% play the fiddle with black face IN
hs minstrel company Of which Castle
and Campbell, opera stars forty years
ago, we're members.