“She didn’t give us no biscuits or sugar ’cept on Christmas.  Jest shorts and molasses for our coffee.  When the Yankee soldiers come through old mistress run and hide in the cellar but the Yankees went down in the collar too and took all the hams and honey and brandied peaches she had.

“They didn’t have no doctors for the niggers then.  Old mistress just give us some blue mass and castor oil and they didn’t give you nothin’ to take the taste out your mouth either.

“Oh lord, I know ’bout them Ku Klux.  They wore false faces and went around whippin’ people.

“After the surrender I went to stay with Miss Fulton.  She was good to me and I stayed with her eleven years.  She wanted to know how old I was so my father went to Miss Caroline and she say I ’bout twenty now.

“Some white folks was good to their slaves.  I know one man, Alec Yates, when he killed hogs he give the niggers five of ’em.  Course he took the best but that was all right.

“After freedom the Yankees come and took the colored folks away to the marshal’s yard and kept them till they got jobs for ’em.  They went to the white folks houses and took things to feed the niggers.

“I ain’t been married but once.  I thought I was in love but I wasn’t.  Love is a itchin’ ’round the heart you can’t get at to scratch.

“I ‘member one song they sung durin’ the war

  ‘The Yankees are comin’ through
  By fall sez I
  We’ll all drink stone blind
  Johnny fill up the bowl.’”

FOLKLORE SUBJECTS
Name of interviewer:  Mrs. Bernice Bowden
Subject:  Songs of Civil War Days
Story:—­Information

This information given by:  Sally Neeley
Place of residence:  105 N. Mulberry, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Occupation:  None
Age:  90
[TR:  Information moved from bottom of first page.]
[TR:  Same as previous informant (Sally Nealy).]

(1)
  “In eighteen hundred and sixty-one
  Football (?) sez I;
  In eighteen hundred and sixty-one
  That’s the year the war begun
  We’ll all drink stone blind,
  Johnny, come fill up the bowl.

(2)
  “In eighteen hundred and sixty-two
  Football (?) sez I;
  In eighteen hundred and sixty-two
  That’s the year we put ’em through
  We’ll all drink stone blind,
  Johnny, come fill up the bowl.

(3)
  “In eighteen hundred and sixty-three
  Football (?) sez I;
  In eighteen hundred and sixty-three
  That’s the year we didn’t agree
  We’ll all drink stone blind. 
  Johnny, come fill up the bowl.

(4)
  “In eighteen hundred and sixty-four
  Football (?) sez I;
  In eighteen hundred and sixty-four
  We’ll all go home and fight no more
  We’ll all drink stone blind. 
  Johnny, come fill up the bowl.

(5)
  “In eighteen hundred and sixty-five
  Football (?) sez I;
  In eighteen hundred and sixty-five
  We’ll have the Rebels dead or alive
  We’ll all drink stone blind,
  Johnny, come fill up the bowl.