to existence some of the
very best among Negro Rhymes it seems as if a little ought to be said
concerning the Negro's instruments. Banjos and fiddles (violins) were
owned only limitedly by antebellum Negroes. Those who owned them
mastered them to such a degree that the memory of their skill will long
linger. These instruments are familiar and need no discussion.

Probably the Negro's most primitive instrument, which he could call his
very own, was "Quills." It is mentioned in the story, "Brother Fox,
Brother Rabbit, and King Deer's Daughter" which I have already quoted at
some length. If the reader will notice in this story he will see, after
the singing of the first stanza by the rabbit and fox, a description in
these words, "Den de quills and de tr'angle, dey come in, an' den Br'er
Rabbit pursue on wid de call." Here we have described in the Negro's own
way the long form of instrumental music composition which we have
hitherto discussed, and "quills" and "tr'angles" are given as the
instruments.

In my early childhood I saw many sets of "Quills." They were short reed
pipes, closed at one end, made from cane found in our Southern
canebrakes. The reed pipes were made closed at one end by being so cut
that the bottom of each was a node of the cane. These pipes were
"whittled" square with a jack knife and were then wedged into a wooden
frame, and the player blew them with his mouth. The "quills," or reed
pipes, were cut of such graduated lengths that they constituted the
Negro's peculiar music Scale. The music intervals though approximating
those of the Caucasian scale were not the same. At times, when in a
reminiscent humor, I hum to myself some little songs of my childhood. On
occasions, afterwards, I have "picked out" some of the same tunes on the
piano. When I have done this I have always felt like giving its
production on the piano the same greeting that I gave a friend who had
once worn a full beard but had shaved. My greeting was "Hello, friend A;
I came near not knowing you."

"Quills" were made in two sets. They were known as a "Little Set of
Quills" and a "Big Set of Quills." There were five reeds in the Little
Set but I do not know how many there were in a Big Set. I think there
were more than twice as many as in a Little Set. I have inserted a cut
of a Little Set of "Quills." (Figure I.) The fact that I was in the
class of "The Little Boy Who Couldn't Count Seven" when I saw and
handled quills makes it nece