Q: Poem "Negro Cuffee"?

[Joel S. Berson]

A correspondent asks:

>The enquiry about "coffey" leads me to ask about a similar word from
>a poem or song from the mid-eighteenth century that I have long been
>trying to identify.  I have found the poem in only one manuscript,
>and I have not yet found a printed version.
>
>The piece is a 34-line dialogue in dialect, with air and recitative.
>A title was added to the manuscript later: "A Song / Negro Cuffee"
>(first line "As Negro Cuffee in the Market stood").  It presents two
>slaves, male and female, who are in the market place selling wares
>(in one case, "grass") and who banter about their affections.  It is
>more likely British than colonial North American--although there
>could be some island involvement..

This may be a false trail, but -- I have the faintest trace of a
memory of encountering this in one of the books I've read about
slavery in colonial America, but unfortunately have no notes about it.

Joel

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