Page images
PDF
EPUB

feed my lamb,* feed my lamb, feed my lamb; Simon Peter,

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

[These words were sung at Hilton Head to the second and third parts:

I went down sing polka, and I ax him for my Saviour
I wonder de angel told me Jesus gone along before.

I mourn, I pray, although you move so slow;
I wonder, &c.

[ocr errors]

The regularity and elaborateness of this hymn lead one at first to suspect its genuineness. The question seems, however, to be settled by two very interesting and undoubted variations from North Carolina and Georgia. The following words were sung at Augusta, but we have not been able to obtain the tune, which is entirely unlike that given above. For the North Carolina variation, see No. 100. Both, as will be seen, omit the second part, and a comparison of the two shows that the enigmatical word "order" should undoubtedly be "altar." The North Carolina tune has the first part quite different from the Port Royal tune, the last very similiar to it.

Oh John, John, de holy member,

Sittin' on de golden ban'.
O worldy, worldy, let him be,
Let him be, let him be;
Worldy, worldy, let him be,
Sittin' on de golden ban'.]

23. I SAW THE BEAM IN MY SISTER'S EYE.

4

1. I saw de beam in my sister's* eye, Can't saw de beam in mine; You'd

bet-ter lef' your sister door, Go keep your own door clean.

2 And I had a mighty battle like-a Jacob and de angel,

Jacob, time of old;

I didn't 'tend to lef' 'em go

Till Jesus bless my soul.

Titty Peggy, Brudder Mosey, &c.

3 And blessed me, and blessed my,

And blessed all my soul;

I didn't 'tend to lef' 'em .go
Till Jesus bless my soul.

[This tune appears to be borrowed from " And are ye sure the news is true?" -but it is so much changed, and the words are so characteristic, that it seemed undoubtedly best to reta n it.]

24.

HUNTING FOR A CITY.

25.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

huntin' for a city, to stay awhile, I am huntin' for a city, to

stay a while, O believer got a home at las

GWINE FOLLOW.

Tit-ty Ma-ry, you know I gwine fol-low, I gwine fol-low,

gwine

fol-low,

Brudder William, you know I gwine to fol-low, For

to

do my Fa-der will. 'Tis well and good I'm a-comin' here tonight, I'm a

comin' here to night, I'm a

comin' here to-night, "Tis

well and good, I'm a-comin' here tonight, For to do my Fader will. [The second part of this tune is evidently" Buffalo" (variously known also as "Charleston" or "Baltimore") "Gals;" the first part, however, is excellent and characteristic.]

[ocr errors]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

moonlight (or moonrise); O my soul, O your soul.

[This is probably the song heard by W. H. Russell, of the London Times, as described in chapter xviii. of "My Diary North and South." The writer was on his way from Pocotaligo to Mr. Trescot's estate on Barnwell Island, and of the midnight row thither he says:

"The oarsmen, as they bent to their task, beguiled the way by singing in unison a real negro melody, which was unlike the works of the Ethiopian Serenaders as anything in song could be unlike another. It was a barbario sort of madrigal, in which one singer beginning was followed by the others in unison, repeating the refrain in chorus, and full of quaint expression and melancholy:

'Oh your soul! oh my soul! I'm going to the churchyard

To lay this body down;

Oh my soul! oh your soul! we're going to the churchyard

To lay this nigger down.'

And then some appeal to the difficulty of passing the Jawdam' constituted the whole of the song, which continued with unabated energy during the whole of the little voyage. To me it was a strange scene. The stream, dark as Lethe, flowing between the silent, houseless, rugged banks, lighted up near the landing by the fire in the woods, which reddened the sky—the wild strain, and the unearthly adjurations to the singers' souls, as though they were palpable, put me in mind of the fancied voyage across the Styx.”

We append with some hesitation the following as a variation; the words of which we borrow from Col. Higginson. Lt. Col. Trowbridge says of it that it was sung at funerals in the night time-one of the most solemn and characteristic of the customs of the negroes. He attributes its origin to St. Simon's Island, Georgia :]

I know moonlight, I know starlight; I lay dis bo dy down.

[ocr errors]

2 I walk in de moonlight, I walk in de starlight;
I lay dis body down.

3 I know de graveyard, I know de graveyard,
When I lay dis body down.

4 I walk in de graveyard, I walk troo de graveyard,
To lay, &c.

5 I lay in de grave an' stretch out my arms;

I lay, &c.

6 I go to de judgment in de evenin' of de day
When I lay, &c.

7 And my soul an' your soul will meet in de day
When we lay, &c.

["I'll lie in de grave and stretch out my arms.' Never, it seems to me, since man first lived and suffered, was his infinite longing for peace uttered more plaintively than in that line."-Col. Higginson.]

27.

HEAVEN BELL A-RING.

1. My Lord, my Lord, what shall I do? And a heav'n bell a-ring and praise God.

4

Variation second.

Timmy, Timmy, or - phan boy. Robert, Robert,

[blocks in formation]

2 What shall I do for a hiding place? And a heav'n, &c.
3 I run to de sea, but de sea run dry.

4 I run to de gate, but de gate shut fast.

5 No hiding place for sinner dere.

6 Say you when you get to heaven say you 'member me.

7 Remember me, poor fallen soul.*

8 Say when you get to heaven say your work shall prove.

9 Your righteous Lord shall prove 'em well.

10 Your righteous Lord shall find you out.
11 He cast out none dat come by faith.
12 You look to de Lord wid a tender heart.
13 I wonder where poor Monday dere.

14 For I am gone and sent to hell.
15 We must harkee what de worldy say.
16 Say Christmas come but once a year.
17 Say Sunday come but once a week.

• When I am gone, For Jesus' sake.

[blocks in formation]

On Sunday mornin' I seek my Lord; Jine 'em, jine 'em oh!

Oh

jine 'em, be-lie - ver, jine 'em so; Jine 'em, jine 'em oh!

[For other words see "Heaven bell a-ring," No. 27. The following were sung at Hilton Head, probably to the same tune:

Join, brethren, join us 0,

Join us, join us 0.

We meet to-night to sing ana pray;

In Jesus' name we'll sing and pray.

A favorite rowing tune: apparently a variation of "Turn sinner," No. 48.]

[blocks in formation]

1. Been § back holy, I must come slow - ly; Oh! Brudder cry ho- ly!

2 Do, Becca Lawton, come to me yonder.

3 Say, brudder Tony, what shall I do now?

4 Beat back holy, and rock salvation.

* Sun come and dry. † All de member, &c. We all, Believer, &c. § Beat, Bent, Rack.

["Who," says Col. Higginson, “Becky Martin was, and why she should or should not be wet, and whether the dryness was a reward or a penalty, none could say. I got the impression that, in either case, the event was posthumous, and that there was some tradition of grass not growing over the grave of a sinner; but even this was vague, and all else vaguer."

Lt. Col. Trowbridge heard a story that "Peggy Norton was an old prophetess, who said that it would not do to be baptized except when it rained; if the Lord

« PreviousContinue »