Darkey Ways in Dixie

by Margaret A. Richard

“Ole Daddy Long Legs,
Why am you so tall?
You look lak yo’ head
Gwine soon touch de wall;
En it take many stitches
Ter sew up dem breeches.”
Ole Daddy Long Legs
Make answer ter me:
“De fines’ fruit grow
In de top ob de tree,
En I’s made tall ez dis
So’s de bes’ I won’t miss.”

His Capacity Filled.

Oh, I had a happy time—
Happy time las’ night!
Staid inside dat meetin’ house
Till it mos’ daylight.
En I sho did sing en holler
Till de people know
Dat dis nigger got religion—
Couldn’t hol’ no mo’.
When I leave dat meetin’ house—
Leave at ha’f pas’ two,
I wuz gittin’ hungry ez
Shoutin’ niggers do;
En des den I heah a rooster
Gib a mighty crow;
“Don’t he think he big?” I say,
“I gwine fetch him low!”
Oh, I fetch him low! En I
Tote him home wid me,
En wid dumplin’s I done cook him
Quick ez dat kin be.
Wid religion en dat chicken
I am full up, sho,
But I reckon when night come
I kin hol’ some mo’!

Ike’s Temptation.

Ebry day dat come, I pass
Whar de watermilyun grow
In de Massa’s milyun patch,
En dey is a sight, fo’ sho.
Dey des peeps frum out de leaves,
Playin’ hide en seek wid me;
En dey beg me come en ta’se ’em,
Des ter see how good dey be;
But I sho does pass ’em by—
Same’s I don’t know whar dey lie.
I’s a member ob de church,
En you’ll neber see me steal;
I kin sho han’ out de cash
Fo’ my bacon en corn-meal.
Dey will keep me des ez fat
Ez I eber want ter be,
En de luxuries ob life—
Heah dem milyuns callin’ me!
Don’t dey know dat I done say
I ain’t gwine take dem away?
One ob dem—he sho am big—
Prettiest thing I eber seen—
All arrayed, mo’ bright dan lilies,
In dem shades ob shinnin’ green.
He done creep frum out dem leaves
Till he close ter dis low fence,
En he beckon me ter take him—
Think dat I ain’t got good sense!
But dat coat ob him do shine,
En I wish dat he wus mine.
Wonder if he look ez nice
On de inside ez de out?
Wonder if he’s lak dem Christians
What do nothin’ else but shout?
Guess dat I could mighty soon
Bu’s’ him on a rock, en see,
If I had him on dis side
Ob de ole rail-fence wid me.
Dat I’ll do! If he’s deceivin’,
Nothin’ else ain’t wuth believin’!

He am mellow ter de co’;
Sho de heart ob him am right;
Since I gone en bu’s’ him open,
I mus’ git him out ob sight.
I would sin agin my conshuns
If I let him go ter was’e
When so many mouths is thirstin’
Fo’ de juice dey loves ter tas’e;—
Juice dat cheers de nigger’s soul
Mo’ dan all dat’s bought wid gol’.
It wus good, dat watermilyun,
But I sho am gittin’ sick;
Go en git de doctor, honey—
Go en git him mighty quick!
’Twus a dirty trick, fo’ cartin,
What de Massa gone en done,
Puttin’ strychnine in dat milyun
So’s ter ketch de guilty one;—
But I ain’t a rogue, he know—
I’s a Christian, dat am sho!

Whar De Watermilyun Grow.

I wus fetch up fur away
Frum dis city whar I stay,
In de lan’ ob shinin’ day
Whar de watermilyun grow.
Oh, my boss heah treat me gran’!
But I sad, you understan’,
Longing fo’ de Dixie lan’
Whar de watermilyun grow.
Fiel’s ob cotton beckon me,
En de sweet magnolia tree,
En my heart des cry ter be
Whar de watermilyun grow.
Oh, de South am des de place
Fo’ de thirsty cullud race!
En I long ter turn my face
Whar de watermilyun grow.

If dey try to ’tice you ’way,
Don’t you lis’n what dey say,
Kaze de nigger bo’n ter stay
Whar de watermilyun grow.