ed
"Dog Scratch." Then when the Supplement "Juba! Juba!" was said the whole
circle of men joined in the dance step "Juba" for a few moments. Then
the next stanza would be repeated and patted with the same general order
of procedure.

The Supplement, then, in the Dance Rhyme was used as the signal for all
to join in the dance for a while at intervals after they had witnessed
the finished foot movements of their most skilled dancers.

The Supplement was used in a third way in Negro Rhymes. This is
illustrated by the Rhyme, "Anchor Line" where the Supplement is "Dinah."
This was a Play Song and was commonly used as such, but the Negro boy
often sang such a song to his sweetheart, the Negro father to his child,
etc. When such songs were sung on other occasions than the Play, the
name of the person to whom it was being sung was often substituted for
the name Dinah. Thus it would be sung

"I'se gwine out on de Anchor Line--Mary," etc.

The Supplement then seems to have been used in some cases to broaden the
scope of direct application of the Rhyme.

The last use of the Supplement to be mentioned is closely related in its
nature to the "stage scenery" use already mentioned. This kind of
Supplement is used to depict the mental condition or attitude of an
individual passing through the experiences being related. Good examples
are found in "My First and My Second Wife" where we have the
Supplements, "Now wusn't I sorrowful in mind," etc.; and in "Stinky
Slave Owners" with its Supplements "Eh-Eh!" "Sho-sho!" etc.

The Negro Rhymes here and there also have some kind of little
introductory word or line to each stanza. I consider this also something
peculiar to Negro Rhyme. I have named these little introductory words or
sentences the "Verse Crown." They are receivers into which verses are
set and serve as dividing lines in the production. As the reader knows,
the portion of the ring which receives the gems and sets them into a
harmonious whole is called the "Crown." Having borrowed the terms
Solitaire, Doublet, etc., for the verses, the name for these
introductory words and lines automatically became "Verse Crown."

Just as I have figuratively termed the Supplements in one place "stage
scenery," so I may with equal propriety term the "Verse Crown" the
"rise" or the "fall" of the stage curtain. They separate the little Acts
of the Rhymes into scenes. As an example read the comic little Rhyme "I
Walked the Roads." The word