' right
dere on de plantation en aw dat."

"Coase my white folks hab uh nice plantation en dey keep uh nice house
aw de time. I wuz de house girl dere en de one wha' dey'ud hab to wait
on de Missus. Dey'ud carry me eve'ywhey dey go. Al'ays know how I wuz
faring. My Missus wuz big en independent lak. Talk lak she mad aw de
time, but she warnt. She ne'er wear no cotton 'bout dere no time. Hab
her silk on eve'y day en dem long yellow ear bob dat'ud be tetchin right
long side she shoulder. I al'ays look a'ter de Missus en she chillun.
Wash dey feet en comb dey hair en put de chillun to bed. But child, some
white folks is queer 'bout t'ings. Dey watch yuh gwine 'bout yuh work en
den dey'll wan' yuh to do sumptin fa dem. De ole man take me 'way from
helping de Missus en send me out to plow corn en drap peas. I wuz shame
too cause I ne'er lak fa he to treat my Missus dat uh way."

"De peoples ne'er didn't cook in no stove den neither. Dey hab big ole
round dirt ubben (oven) to cook dey ration in. Dey make dey ubben outer
white clay en hadder build uh shelter over it cause dey'ud cook outer
in de yard. Dey ne'er cook but jes twice uh week. Cook on Wednesday en
den ne'er cook no more till Saturday. I 'member de big ole ham dat dey
cook en de tatoes en so mucha bread. Jes hab 'bundance aw de time. I got
uh piece uv de ole slavery time ubben heah now. I ge' it outer en show
it to yuh. Dis is one uv de leads (lids) en dey'ud put uh chain en hook
on dere en hang it up in de fireplace. Dat de way dey cook dey ration. O
Lawd, ef I could ge' back to my ole home whey I could look in en see jes
one more time, jes one more time, child."

"I wuz jes uh girl when de Yankees come t'rough dere. Dey look jes lak
uh big blue cloud comin' down dat road en we chillun wuz scared uv em.
Dat land 'round 'bout dere wuz full uv dem Yankees marchin' en gwine on.
Dey ne'er bother my white folks but in some uv de places dey jes ruint
eve't'ing. Burnt up en tore down aw 'bout dere."

"Yuh ain' ne'er see nobody weave no cloth nowadays. In de winter dey
use'er al'ays put woolen on de little chillun to keep em from getting
burnt up. Peoples wuz easy to cotch uh fire in dat time. Dey hab plenty
uv sheep den en dis jes 'bout de time uv de year dat dey shear de sheep.
Al'ays'ud shear de sheep in de month uv May. Dey is make aw kinder nice
cloth den. I c'n charge en spin en make any kinder streak yuh wan'.
Coase my mudder use'er weave de jeanes cloth en blank