"Gwine"

[Wilson Gray]

Absolutely. I'd completely forgotten about Stephen Foster's oeuvre. In
fact, I can recall that that's how I first learned the form, starting
in the first grade and ending in the sixth, now that you've reminded
me. Thank you, Jon. Indeed, we were even taught the song, "Jim Crow!" -
I've never known who wrote it - in the first grade.

Jump! Oh, jump!
Oh, jump, Jim Crow!
[...]
And around you go!
Slide! Slide!
Point your toe!
You're a funny little fellow
When you jump, Jim Crow!

There was no PC back in the day. On the other hand, though, "Jim Crow"
was such a popular brand of whiskey that it had a nickname: "Dirty
Bird."

-Wilson

On Feb 23, 2005, at 8:04 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Gwine"
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>
> "Gwine" became an iconic spelling in minstrel songs: Foster's "Gwine
> to run all night, gwine to run all day!" and "I'm gwine to Louisiana
> with my banjo on my knee!" come to mind instantly.
>
> JL
>
> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: "Gwine"
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> "Y'all" was so much fun that we should do another one, "gwine," that
> should be less controversial. I'm no longer certain of how or when I
> became familiar with this example of old-school Negro dialect. But I do
> recall hearing it spoken in jest by a schoolmate in Texas around 1947.
> Otherwise, I was familiar with "gwine" only from the movies, especially
> George Pal's dumb-nigger animated cartoons and from comic books and
> such written in Negro dialect. But, similarly to "y'all," as a
> singular, I never heard it spoken in real life.
>
> For years and years, I listened to all kinds of blues and rhythm &
> blues, talked with colored folk from all over the South, and the
> closest that I came to hearing a real "gwine" was "goina." Then, one
> evening in 1979, I was listening to an interview with Sunnyland Slim,
> an old-time blues pianist and a native of Mississsippi, on the local
> NPR station, when I heard him say quite clearly, "They was gwine
> broke!" My reaction was, "Damn! It's true! In fact, it's still a living
> form!" Then I noticed that Memphis "She plays guitar like a man" Minnie
> used "gwine." That was odd, because I'd been listening to her songs for
> years without hearing any "gwine." But that mystery solved itself.
> Sometimes, Minnie chose to use "gwine"; other times she chose to use
> "gon(na)." I assume that she originally used "gwine," shifting over
> time to "gon(na)," as "gwine" fell out of fashion. But that's just a
> guess.
>
> Sunnyland Slim and Memphis Minnie are both now deceased. Has "gwine"
> finally died with them?
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
>
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