Aine, dé, trois, Caroline, ça ga yé comme ça ma chère,

Aine, dé, trois, Car- o - line, ga ça yé comme ça ma chère. Pa

- pa di non, man - man di non, C'est li mo oulé, c'est li ma pren; Ya

pas l'arzan pou ache-té ca-banne, C'est li mo ou-lé, c'est li ma pren.

Pauve piti Lolotte a mouin, Pauve pi-ti Lolotte a mouin,

Pauve pi- ti Lolotte a mouin, Li gaignin doulair.

Ca-la

lou porté madrasse, li porté ji pon gar - ni.

Pauve pi-ti Lolotte a mouin, Pauve pi-ti Lolotte a mouin,

136.

4

Voyez

FINE.

MUSIEU BAINJO.

ce mu - let là, Musieu Bainjo, Comme il est in - so

D. C.

[The seven foregoing songs were obtained from a lady who heard them sung, before the war, on the "Good Hope" plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. The language, evidently a rude corruption of French, is that spoken by the negroes in that part of the State; and it is said that it is more difficult for persons who speak French to interpret this dialect, than for those who speak English to understand the most corrupt of the ordinary negro-talk. The pronunciation of this negro-French is indicated, as accurately as possible, in the versions given here, which furnish, also, many interesting examples of the peculiar phrases and idioms employed by this people. The frequent omission of prepositions, articles, and auxiliary verbs, as well as of single letters, and the contractions constantly occurring, are among the most noticeable peculiarities. Some of the most difficult words are: mo for me, mon, je; li for lui, le, la, il, elle; mouin for moi; yé for ils, leur; aine, dé, for un, deux; té for été, était; ya, yavé for il y a, etc.; ouar for voir and its inflections; oulé for vouloir, etc.; pancor for pas encore; michié for monsieur; inpé for un peu. The words are, of course, to be pronounced as if they were pure French.

Four of these songs, Nos. 130, 131, 132 and 133, were sung to a simple dance, a sort of minuet, called the Coonjai; the name and the dance are probably both of African origin. When the Coonjai is danced, the music is furnished by an orchestra of singers, the leader of whom—a man selected both for the quality of his voice and for his skill in improvising-sustains the solo part, while the others afford him an opportunity, as they shout in chorus, for inventing some neat verse to compliment some lovely danseuse, or celebrate the deeds of some plantation hero. The dancers themselves never sing, as in the case of the religious "shout" of the Port Royal negroes; and the usual musical accompaniment, besides that of the singers, is that furnished by a skilful performer on the barrelhead-drum, the jaw-bone and key, or some other rude instrument.

No. 134. The "calinda" was a sort of contra-dance, which has now passed entirely out of use. Bescherelle describes the two lines as "avançant et reculant en cadence, et faisant des contorsions fort singulières et des gestes fort lascifs."

The first movement of No. 135, "Lolotte," has furnished M. Gottschalk with the theme of his "Ballade Créole," "La Savane," op. 3 de la Louisiane.

In 136, we have the attempt of some enterprising negro to write a French song; he is certainly to be congratulated on his success.

It will be noticed that all these songs are "seculars"; and that while the words of most of them are of very little account, the music is as peculiar, as interesting, and, in the case of two or three of them, as difficult to write down, or to sing correctly, as any that have preceded them.]

EDITORS' NOTE.

THE original arrangement of the foregoing collection has not been adhered to. Why the secular songs do not appear by themselves has been already explained. That the division into parts is not strictly geographical was caused by the tardy arrival of most of the songs contained in Part IV. Should a second edition ever be justified by the favor with which the present is received, these irregularities will be corrected.

It was proposed to print music without words, and words without music, each by themselves. But the first can hardly be said to have been obtained, unless “Shock along, John," No. 86, is an instance. The words without music which in one or two cases were kindly, and we fear laboriously, communicated to us, presented no fresh or striking peculiarities, and we therefore decided against their admission.

As was remarked in the Introduction, we are fully aware of the incompleteness of this collection, though we may fairly enough assume it to be la crême de la crême. Col. Higginson writes:

6

"I wish you would look up one 'spiritual,' of which I only remember the chorus-' It doth appear'-as being often sung in camp. Also, Ring dat charming bell,' which they used to sing to please Mrs. Saxton, who liked it."

Gen. James H. Wilson, who, in the earlier part of the war, was at Port Royal, and, during explorations and night surveys of the coast between there and Ossabaw Sound, had frequent opportunities of hearing every grade of "spirituals," writes, of Col. Higginson's collection in the Atlantic Monthly:

"He has omitted two which I heard more generally sung than any others. I refer to the one beginning:

and the other:

"They took ole Master Lord,

And fed him on pepper and gall,'

"My brudder Johnny's new-born baby,

Hi oh, de new-born!'

"The airs to which these were sung are very peculiar, while the burthen of the songs is pretty clearly indicated by the lines given above. The first seems to allude to the persecutions of Christ, while the latter simply refers to the birth and early death of a new-born baby, and is varied by making a new verse for all the brothers and sisters that the singer happens to be able to call to mind.

"I also recollect the refrain of a boat-song which a crew of ten stalwart negroes used to sing for me in our excursions, but I am inclined to the belief that it was by no means a 'spiritual,' as I could never get any of them to explain it to my satisfaction. The only words I could make out clearly were:

"Jah de window, jah!

Oh jah de window,' etc.

and the meaning of which I took to be ''jar the window.' If they had any such thing among them, this was probably a fragment of a simple ballad, describing an incident in a negro courtship. I got this impression at the time, partly from the peculiar tone of the song, and partly from their hesitancy to explain it. But whatever may have been its real character, it was quite musical, and had such an inspiring effect upon my boatmen that I have known them to row eighteen or twenty miles, exerting their utmost strength, keeping perfect time to its notes, and never pausing for breath."

These, certainly, are songs to be desired and regretted. But we do not despair of recovering them and others perhaps equally characteristic for a second edition; and we herewith solicit the kind offices of collectors into whose hands this volume may have fallen, in extending and perfecting our researches. For fully a third of the songs recorded by Col. Higginson we have failed to obtain the music, and they may very well serve as a guide for future investigators. We shall also gratefully acknowledge any errors of fact or of typography that may be brought to our attention, and in general any thing that would enhance the value or the interest of this collection. Communications may be addressed to Mr. W. P. Garrison, Office of The Nation newspaper, New York City.

NOVEMBER, 1867.