Folk-Lore from Maryland (1925)

[Wilson Gray]

Damn! A brother just can't catch a break nowhere.

-Wilson Gray

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>Subject:      Folk-Lore from Maryland (1925)
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>FOLK-LORE FROM MARYLAND
>collected by Annie Weston Whitney and Caroline Canfield Bullock
>New York:
>Published by the American Folk-Lore Society
>G. E. Stechert and Co., New York, Agents
>1925
>...
>A lot of familiar, interesting stuff is here, at a somewhat early date. I
>might do follow-up research in later posts on some of the terms...Sorry in
>advance for my typing.
>...
>...
>Pg. 70:
>When you see the first star in the evening, make a wish and say:
>Star bright, star bright,
>First star I've seen tonight,
>I wish you may, I wish you might,
>Give me the wish, I wish tonight.
>...
>Pg. 73:
>A shorter way to tell fortunes by daisies is,
>He loves me, he loves me not.
>...
>Pg. 107:
>Monday's child is fair in face,...
>...
>Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger,
>Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger,
>Sneeze on Wednesday, receive a letter,
>Sneeze on Thursday, something better,
>Sneeze on Friday, expect sorrow,
>Sneeze on Saturday, joy t-morrow (or a beau to-morrow)
>Sneeze on Sunday, your safety seek
>Or the devil will have you the whole of the week.
>...
>Cut your nails on Monday, cut for news,
>Cut on Tuesday, a pair of new shoes,
>Cut on Wednesday, cut for health;
>Cut on Thursday, cut for wealth;
>Cut on Friday, cut for woe;
>Cut on Saturday, a journey you'll go;
>Cut them on Sunday, you'll cut for evil.
>...
>"Friday's hair and Sunday's horn
>You'll meet the Black Man on Monday Morn."
>...
>Monday, health,
>Tuesday, wealth,
>Wednesday, the best day of all;
>Thursday, crosses,
>Friday, losses,
>Saturday, no day at all.
>...
>Pg. 130: STREET CRIES. The Devil Crab Man.
>Ah, I hav 'em hot,
>Ah, I have 'em brown,
>Ah, I have 'em long,
>Ah, I have 'em roun',
>Dey's nice en fat, dey weighs a poun',
>Daibble!
>...
>Pg. 133:
>1-2-3-4-5-6-7.
>All goof children go to heaven,
>One flew east and one flew west
>And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
>...
>1-2-3-4-5-6-7.
>All goof children go to heaven,
>Some go up and some go down,
>And some go all around the town.
>...
>1-2-3-4-5-6-7,
>All good children go to heaven,
>1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8,
>All bad children are too late.
>...
>1-2-3-4-5-6-7
>All good children go to heaven,
>All the rest fo below,
>To keep company with Jumbo,
>or
>To keep company with Guiteau.
>...
>Pg. 138:
>What's your name? Pudding-in-tane.
>Where do you loive? Up Red Lane.
>What's your number? 22 Cumber.
>...
>Pg. 139:
>Nigger in the woodshed,
>Don't you hear him holler?
>Take him up to my house
>And give him half a dollar.
>...
>As I went up the apple tree,
>All the apples fell on me.
>Bake a pudding,
>Bake a pie,
>You're the one who told the lie.
>...
>Knife and fork,
>Bottle and cork,
>That's the way
>To spell New York.
>...
>A rough shirt
>And a standing collar
>Will choke a nigger
>Till he holler.
>...
>Pg. 140:
>Hayfoot, strawfoot,
>Specklefoot, crawfoot,
>Some flew east, some flew west,
>Some flew over the cuckoo's nest.
>...
>Aka baka, soda cracker,
>Aka baka boo,
>My grandfather has an old horshoe
>How many nails did he put in it?
>(Select a number & count that many.)
>...
>Draw a bucket of water,
>For my lady's daughter,
>A gay gold ring and a silver pin,
>And pray my lady go under.
>(Miss Jennie go under.)
>...
>Pg. 142:
>_Bingo._ (...) _The Farmer stands alone._
>...
>Pg. 147: _Ugly mug._
>Come put your right hand in,
>Come put your right hand out,
>Come give your right hand a shake, shake, shake,
>And turn your body about.
>...
>Pg. 151:
>Once upon a time,
>When the fogs ate lime,
>The turkeys chawed tobacco,
>And the geese drank wine.
>...
>Once upon a time,
>A fog made a rhyme,
>Goose chewed Tobacco,
>And the cat drank wine.
>...
>Once I was a wish bone,
>Grew within a hen,
>Now I am a little slave,
>That is made to wipe your pen.
>...
>Hot corn! Baked pears!
>Knock a nigger down stairs.
>...
>Christmas is coming,
>Turkeys are fat,
>Please drop a penny,
>In the little boy's hat.
>(Or the Newsboy's hat.)
>...
>Pg. 155:
>All the cats consulted,
>What was it about?
>How to catch a little mouse
>Running in and out.
>...
>Rain, rain, go away
>And come again another day,
>For little Johnny
>Wants to play.
>...
>Rain come wet me,
>Sun come dry me,
>Go 'way Patsy,
>Don't come nigh me.
>...
>Jake, Jake, the rattlesnake
>Stole-a half a-dollar cake.
>...
><y name's Jimmy,
>Take all you gimme.
>...
>A fool for luck,
>A poor man for children,
>Eastern shore for hard crabs,
>And niggers for dogs.
>...
>Ting-a-ling-a-ling the scissors grinder,
>Lost his wife and couldn't find her.
>...
>Pg. 156:
>I had a piece of pork,
>I put it on a fork,
>And gave it to the curly headed Jew, Jew, Jew.
>...
>Tattle tale tit,
>Your tongue shall be split,
>And all the girls in our town
>Shall have a little bit.
>...
>Cry baby cry,
>Put your finger in your eye
>And tell your Mother 'twasn't I.
>...
>Pg. 157:
>Catch a grasshopper, and say,
>"Spit, spit, tobacco juice,
>If you don't do it, I'll kill you".
>If he does not spit, he is killed.
>...
>If you see a ladybug, catch it and put it on your finger and say:
>"Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home,
>Your house is on fire, your children will burn."
>Then it will fly away home.
>...
>Pg. 158:
>My love for you will never fail,
>So long as pussy has her tail.
>...
>So long as grass grows round this stump,
>You are my darling sugar lump.
>...
>(Said to a child who affects a very fainty appetite at table.)
>"Leave something for Miss Manners."
>...
>I  beg your pardon, I grant you grace,
>I hope the cat will scratch your face.
>...
>Whistling girls and crowing hens
>Always come to some bad ends.
>...
>A whistling man and a crowing hen
>Are not fit for gods or men.
>...
>Girls that whistle and hens that crow,
>Gather life's pleasure as they go.
>...
>Pg. 159:
>Needles and pins, needles and pins,
>When a man marries his trouble begins.
>...
>Tit for tat;
>If you kill my dog,
>I;ll kill your cat.
>...
>Multiplication is vexation.
>Division is bad,
>The rule of Three doth puzzle me,
>And Practice drives me mad.
>...
>Whilst we live, we live in clover,
>When we die, we die all over.
>...
>I had a little fod, his name was Rover,
>And when he died, he died all over.
>...
>After breakfast, work awhile;
>After dinner, sit awhile;
>After supper, walk a mile.
>...
>Pg. 173:
>Sisters and brothers have I none,
>But that man's father is my father's son,
>What relation is that man to me?
>(My Son.)
>...
>Pg. 174:
>A house full, a hole full,
>You can't get a bowl full.
>(Smoke.)
>...
>Up and down,
>Never touches sky nor ground.
>(Pump Handle.)
>...
>Pg.175:
>Long legs, crooked thighs,
>Little head and no eyes.
>(Pair of tongs.)
>...
>Round as a biscuit,
>As busy as a bee,
>The prettiest little thing,
>You ever did see.
>(A watch.)
>...