Q: Poem "Negro Cuffee"?

[Joel S. Berson]

Actually, Wilson, I'm not sure now that you call
my attention to the question.  From the message I
passed on, it seems the questioner has seen a
manuscript (perhaps even at Houghton; thanks for
that, I'll pass it on in case she hasn't).  So
perhaps she isn't looking for more about the poem.

I did respond separately with the appropriate
information about the name "Cuffee" -- rounding
up the usual suspects ("African day name").  I
also passed on to her the following; if it
suggests anything to anyone on this list, I'd appreciate hearing.

>Selling "grass" in the marketplace I believe
>means the location is South Carolina or perhaps
>the Chesapeake.  I think I've encountered a
>description of grass being sold along the road
>(I can't remember where) for basket-making, and
>basket-making being an important source of income for blacks in that area.
>
>Also:  This may be a false trail, but -- I have
>the faintest trace of a memory of encountering
>the poem about the affectionate Negro couple in
>one of the books I've read about slavery in
>colonial America, but unfortunately I have no
>notes about it.  If it's in dialect, that would add to my recollection.
>
>It's surely a long shot, but the index to one of
>the following might have "Cuffee" (or variant spelling) and the poem.
>
>Berlin, Many Thousands Gone
>Wood, Black Majority
>Olwell, Masters, Slaves, & Subjects
>Hahn, A Nation Under Our Feet
>Morgan, “Black Life in Eighteenth-Century
>Charleston,” Perspectives in American History, New Series, Vol. 1 (1984)
>Jordan, White Over Black
>Higginbotham, In the Matter of Color
>Piersen, Black Yankees
>Genovese, Rebellion to Revolution

If there's more to ask, or report, here, I'll do so.

At 3/8/2009 07:08 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
>Is this a question about the *name*, "Cuffee," or one about the song / poem?
>
>-Wilson
>­­­
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-----
>-Mark Twain
>
>
>
>On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 10:27 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the
> mail header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Q: Poem "Negro Cuffee"?
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > 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
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
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