Alabama
-2—
412

‘e~i passes so de patterollers wouldn‘t ketch ‘em and whip ‘em foh run— fm1 away. De pat~ero11ers was a good thing foh de lazy ones. VIhen dayliß‘ht come we had to get up, else we‘d be whipped. Massa cliïn‘t iiave hi~s slaves whipped m~ich; just when dey was lazy and. wouldn‘t work.

	~Ev‘ey now and den we would have some good frolics, mostly on

Sattiday niights . Somebody would play de fiddle and we all danced to de

rr1u~ic. De folks sure had some big times at de cornshuckints, too. De

n~en would work two or three days, haulin‘ de corn and pilin‘ it near de

crib. Den dey would invite folks from other quarters to corne and help

r±~ de shuckin‘. While dey shucked dey would holler and sing

~	f ‘~c~ dumped and 1 jumped;

~	~. ‚ Swear by G~d you outjumped me.

.	Huh! Huh! Round de corn, Sally.‘

	“Granny used to give us tea made outen sage roots, mullen, pine

~	.. ~ s.,- -i hor~hound. Dat sho‘ was bitter stuff. ~Ve had purty beads

aade ~~1d corn. And I still ‘members de Christmas I got my fii~st shoes.

I just hugged dem tight and went to sleep holdln‘ ‘em. Dey was button

s~îoes.

	“When we hearn de Yankees was comm1 we hid all de meat and 1‘&tjons and de silver in de big swamp, and turned de horses loose, and

:~ui us 1ci~d.s hid in de bedticks (mattresses), De Yankees stayed around two or three days and would pull de hands out of dere beds by dey toes.

	“Eut I really seed a ha‘rtt one time. I knowed it was. De was One old man been havin‘ de toothache all de time; he used to keep he jaw tied up. I wag gwine over to see him day time. Well, ‘fore I got dere I seen what look like him comin. When I got nearer he turned to a lan riding a mule and wearing a big hat. Den, ‘fore he got to de house he was plum gone. Dat‘S how I knowed it was a ha‘nt.“

Reference: Eliza White, age around 80, Opeflka, Alabama. VT8Sh. Copy, 5/27/37. L, H.