"So I said to myself, 'Self...'"

[Baker, John]

        A couple of years earlier, but no indication as to origin:

        "Becuz of the mild weatha at the end of the winta, every blossom
and blade of grass was weeks ahead of schedule. Back about the middle of
this month, I says to myself, Self, mebbe this is the yea to plant
early,' but then I hud the ghost of my fatha and his fatha sayin', Plant
the tumatuz on Memorial Day.' I held off."

Boston Globe, 5/31/1981 (via Westlaw).  The speaker is a New Hampshire
gardener.


John Baker