' ants,
Put my head down 'twixt her knees, Suh,
Almos' roll me out'n my pants.

She had a great big tough hick'ry,
An' it help till it convince.
Frum dat day clean down to dis one,
I'se had manners ev'r since.

MISS BLODGER

De rats an' de mice, dey rund up stairs,
Fer to hear Miss Blodger say her prayers.
Now here I stan's 'fore Miss Blodger.
She 'spects to hit me, but I'se gwineter dodge her.

THE LITTLE NEGRO FLY

Dere's a liddle Nigger fly
Got a pretty liddle eye;
But he don't know 'is A, B, C's.
He up an' crawl de book,
An' he eben 'pears to look;
But he don't know 'is A, B, C's.

DESTINIES OF GOOD AND BAD CHILDREN

One, two, three, f[=o]', five, six, seben;
All de good chilluns goes to Heaben.
All de bad chilluns goes below,
To [44]segashuate wid ole man [45]Joe.

One, two, three, f[=o]', five, six, seben, eight;
All de good chilluns goes in de Pearly Gate.
But all de bad chilluns goes the Broad Road below,
To segashuate wid ole man Joe.

[44] Segashuate means associate with.

[45] Read first stanza of "Sheep Shell Corn," to know of ole man Joe.

BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR LUCK

One time I went a-huntin',
I heared dat 'possum sneeze.
I hollered back to Susan Ann:
"Put on a pot o' peas."

Dat good ole 'lasses candy,
What makes de eyeballs shine,
Wid 'possum peas an' taters,
Is my dish all de time.

[46]Dem black-eyed peas is lucky;
When e't on New Year's day,
You always has sweet taters,
An' 'possum come your way.

[46] This last stanza embodies one of the old superstitions.

PERIWINKLE[47]

Pennywinkle, pennywinkle, poke out y[=o]' ho'n;
An' I'll give you five dollahs an' a bar'l o' co'n.
Pennywinkle! Pennywinkle! Dat gal love me?
Jes stick out y[=o]' ho'n all pinted to a tree.

[47] The Periwinkle seems to have been used as an oracle by some Negroes
in the days of their enslavement.

TRAINING THE BOY

W'en I wus a liddle boy,
Jes thirteen inches high,
I useter climb de table legs,
An' steal off cake an' pie.

Altho' I wus a liddle boy,
An' tho' I wusn't high,
My mammy took dat keen switch down,
An' whupped me till I cry.

Now I is a great big boy,
An' Mammy, she cain't do it;
My daddy gits a great big stick,
An' pulls me right down to it.

Dey say: "N