Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves | Page 3

long shirt. Dey didn't know nothin' else den, but I
sho' would lak to see you try to make boys go 'roun' lookin' lak dat
now.
"Dey hired me out to Mr. Jack Weir's fambly when I wuz 'bout fo'teen
years old to do washin', ironin', an' cleanin' up de house, an' I wukked
for 'em 'til I married. Dey lemme eat all I wanted dere at de house an'
paid me in old clo'es, middlin' meat, sirup, 'tatoes, an' wheat flour, but I
never did git no money for pay. Not nary a cent.
"Us wukked mighty hard, but us had good times too. De bigges' fun us
had wuz at candy pullin's. Ma cooked de candy in de wash pot out in de
yard. Fust she poured in some home-made sirup, an' put in a heap of
brown sugar from de old sirup barrel an' den she biled it down to whar
if you drapped a little of it in cold water it got hard quick. It wuz ready
den to be poured out in greasy plates an' pans. Us greased our han's wid
lard to keep de candy from stickin' to 'em, an' soon as it got cool
enough de couples would start pullin' candy an' singin'. Dat's mighty
happy music, when you is singin' an' pullin' candy wid yo' bes' feller.
When de candy got too stiff an' hard to pull no mo', us started eatin', an'
it sho' would evermo' git away from dar in a hurry. You ain't nebber
seed no dancin', what is dancin', lessen you has watched a crowd dance
atter dey et de candy what dey done been pullin'.
"Quiltin's wuz a heap of fun. Sometimes two or three famblies had a
quiltin' together. Folkses would quilt some an' den dey passed 'roun' de
toddy. Some would be cookin' while de others wuz a quiltin' an' den
when supper wuz ready dey all stopped to eat. Dem colla'd greens wid
cornpone an' plenty or gingercakes an' fruit puffs an' big ole pots of
coffee wuz mighty fine eatin's to us den.
"An' dere warn't nothin' lackin' when us had cornshuckin's. A gen'ral of
de cornshuckin' wuz appointed to lead off in de fun. He sot up on top of
de big pile of corn an' hysted de song. He would git 'em started off

singin' somethin' lak, 'Sallie is a Good Gal,' an' evvybody kept time
shuckin' an' a singin'. De gen'ral kept singin' faster an' faster, an' shucks
wuz jus' flyin'. When pa started passin' de jug 'roun' dem Niggers sho'
nuff begun to sing loud an' fas' an' you wuz 'bliged for to 'low Sallie
mus' be a Good Gal, de way de shucks wuz comin' off of dat corn so
fas'. Dey kep' it up 'til de corn wuz all shucked, an' ma hollered, 'Supper
ready!' Den dey made tracks for de kitchen, an' dey didn't stop eatin' an'
drinkin' dat hot coffee long as dey could swallow. Ain't nobody fed 'em
no better backbones, an' spareribs, turnip greens, 'tato pies, an' sich lak
dan my ma set out for 'em. Old time ways lak dat is done gone for good
now. Folkses ain't lak dey used to be. Dey's all done got greedy an'
don't keer 'bout doin' nothin' for nobody else no more.
"Ma combed our hair wid a Jim Crow comb, or cyard, as some folkses
called 'em. If our hair wuz bad nappy she put some cotton in de comb
to keep it from pullin' so bad, 'cause it wuz awful hard to comb.
"Evvybody tried to raise plenty of gourds, 'cause dey wuz so handy to
use for dippers den. Water wuz toted from de spring an' kept in piggins.
Don't spec' you ebber did see a piggin. Dats a wooden bucket wid wire
hoops 'roun' it to keep it from leakin'. De wash place wuz nex' to de
spring. Pa fixed us up a big old stump whar us had to battle de clo'es
wid a battlin' stick. It tuk a sight of battlin' to git de dirt out sometimes.
"If you turned a chunk over in de fire, bad luck wuz sho' to come to you.
If a dog howled a certain way at night, or if a scritch owl come in de
night, death wuz on de way to you, an' you always had to be keerful so
maybe bad spirits would leave you alone.
"Pa built us a new kitchen, jus' lak what de white folkses had dem days.
It sot out in de back yard, a little piece of a way from our house. He
made it out of logs an' put a big old chimbly wid a big fireplace at one
end. Benches wuz built 'roun' de sides