Texas Slave Narrative
Willie Blackwell
Willie Blackwell , 103, was born on the Blackwell plantation in Granville County, North Carolina. He remained there until he was forty, then went to Fort Worth, Texas, where he now lives. "Is I been a slave? Sho! I's more'n twenty-five years old when de war broke out 'mongst de north and south, and I 'longed to Marse Willie Blackwell , what am a powerful rich man and bought de first tobaccy factory in Durham, over in North Carolina. "Marse's house am inside two big yards, one takin' in sev'ral acres and de little one close to de house. Even de overseer's house wasn't nigh to de big house, dat plantation am so big. When de poor white folks wants to talk to marse, dey come to de gate in de little yard and hollers. Den marse sends me to see what dey want, and iffen dey won't tell me, marse say, 'He can go plumb to Hell.' And he meant it, too! "I's 'most born on de Glover plantation. You see, pappy am de Blackwell stud and he am de big powerful nigger what dey wants to breed dey slave stock up with, so he am use on de Glover place. It jus' happen marse buys mammy from de Glovers jus' 'fore I's born. "Dat stud business make de young bucks lots of troublement. I finds dat out when I wants to do some steppin'. Better not step with de stud's wenches or you'll git de whip. Course, dere was lots of steppin' de stud, but dat done 'twixt dark and mornin' and you better not git cotch. "Marse Blackwell done all de whuppin' hisself, 'cept on de women folks. Old Missus done dat and she whupped powerful hard, but jus' for not doin' de work, and not for makin' some white man mad 'bout some li'l old somethin' or other. I seed whuppin's where de blood run down kind of fast. Dat mostly for runaways. "We had lots of dances dem days and with jus' one fiddle. Dere's de 'Run, Nigger, Run' song, what go like dis: 'Run, nigger, run, patterroller cotch you, Run, nigger, run, 'cause it 'most de day. Dat nigger run, dat nigger flew, Dat nigger los' he weddin' shoe. "'Over de hill and down de holler, Patterroller cotch nigger by collar, Dat nigger run, dat nigger flew, Dat nigger tear he pants in two!'
"Den 'nother song was like dis: 'Cold, frosty mornin', poor nigger mighty good, Axe on he shoulder, body to de wood, Great big ash cake, not a bit of fat, Marse a grumbler, if he eat much of dat; Fifteen cents and paddle on de fence, Great big nigger ain't got lick of sense.' "Course, now, old marse real good to us, but plantations does dis way and dat. Some treats dey slaves so bad if dem white folks am dead now dey mos' bound to be in Hell. De patterrollers am rough with niggers, but dey gits paid for dat. "Den de war come and iffen a white man didn't wear a uniform, both sides shot him first and ask questions after. De old men has to have papers on dem tellin' dey sons fightin' or dey gits shot. "Soldiers goes by and cleans us out of rations every time. Dey go in de hen house and clean it plumb out in one night. Dey go after a hawg and throw him and rip him with de saber, have de fire goin' and singe de hair off and dat meat on de fire 'fore you say 'rabbit foot.' Dem fellers expert at such tricks. It a show to see dem in action, if it wasn't takin' our rations right out our mouths. We has to go to bed hongry many a night after dem soldiers come pay a visit. "Marse have so many niggers he didn't know he own from somebody else's when he meet dem. We didn't even pay no 'tention to who's kin to who. Dere so much buyin' and sellin' we gits all mix up, too, and jus' don't care. If marse have a big, comely wench he puts her with de stud and no other man to mess with her. But sposin' a nigger buck loves her and she loves him. Marse see dat and git rid of dat buck. Only one thing wrong, iffen he don't sell dat buck a thousand miles away, dat buck come back to see dat wench. Yes, suh, I knows, 'cause I's dere, Johnny on de spot! "One day marse rings de bell and us all get round him. He say, 'Boys, you's free and can go where you wants. 'Dey don't know what he mean. All dey ever heared am 'Tom , you take you gang to de cane brake and clean it out. Si , you take you gang to de north fence and fix dat. Jim , you take you gang down to de cotton patch.' But after a long time, dem niggers finds out dey gwine git pay for workin'. A lot of us stays with Marse Blackwell and gits pay by de week or two weeks or month. "I stays till I's round onto forty year old and all dat time I's pay by de week, never misses a week. Can't say dat since I left dere! Dem times wasn't like now. Dere wasn't no banks and pen 'tentiaries and county roads and gallusses. I roams round a while den gits to Fort Worth. On my fiftieth birthday, what I makes Juneteenth, 'cause de real day am lost, I marries up with dis woman here, when she ain't but fourteen years old. Some folks say she'll leave me, but she never did and we raises twelve kids, and outlives six of dem. T'other six am still in hollerin' distance dey old pappy, though. "I reckon dat 'bout all dis here old nigger knows to tell. Old Aunt Martha Ditto say de hard luck now am worse'n slave times, though she gits whupped den for not pickin' a hunerd pounds cotton in one day. She jus' can't pick dat much cotton in one day, but she hopes her sore back'll outlast de cotton pickin'. She kep' right on doin' what her old marse want and dat what de rest of us done, never dreamin' one day we'd be free as de white man. Dat all go to show, no matter how bad times is, it all be cleaned up some day, and all we has to do is stay in dere with dem till it's done."
Willie (Uncle Bill) Blackwell
, 103, now residing in Arlington, Tex., was named for his owner, W.J. Blackwell
, Sr., who owned a large number of slaves and a large plantation in Granville co., near Henderson, N.C. Willie's
father was the Blackwell
Plantation stud, and was used at times on the adjoining Glover
Plantation. Willie's
mother was bought from the Glover
place, then bred. Willie
states that there was so much buying, selling, and trading of the slaves in that part of the country that the slaves paid no attention to their relations with each other. Both armies passed and repassed the plantation during the Civil War, and each time caused a food shortage by taking the plantation's
rations. All of the Blackwell
slaves remained on the plantation after their freedom, leaving a few at a time. Willie
remained until he was 40 years old, then went to Fort Worth, Tex., where he was employed as a laborer. He married Martha Jones
, 14, when he was 50. They reared 12 children, six of them now dead. His story:
"Is Ise been a slave? Sho! Ise a slave fo' 25 yeahs befo' de wah broke out 'mongst de North an' de South. Yes suh, Ise bo'n a slave to Marster Willie Blackwell
, dat have de plantation in Granville co., N.C., right whar Henderson am now.
"Marster Blackwell
am pow'ful rich man an' bought de fust t'baccy factory in Durham, N.C. 'Twas a big plantation, an' have so many cabins fo' de slaves to live in, sheds an' barns to wo'k in, 'sides de overseer's house an' de Marster's house dat weuns all call de 'Headquatahs', dat it 'peared lak a small town. An' 'twas a
small town fo' sho. "Marster's house am set inside two big yahds. One big one takin' in sev'al acres, an' one smaller dat goes closah to de house. Even de overseer's house warnt close to headquatahs, but am set 'bout ha'f way to'ards de slave quatahs. "Poor
white fo'ks don't have much go in dem days. W'en dey wants to speak to de Marster, dey comes up to de gate in de small yahd an' hollers. De Marster looks outer de winder an' says, 'Looky yonder! Now I wondah what he wants?' Den he calls fo' de slave, an' w'en Ise dere, he sends me. He tells weuns to go see
what de man wants. Ise goes down an' asks what he wants. He say, 'Ise wants to see youse Marster'. "Ise says, 'M'ybe youse bettah tell me what youse wants, an' Ise go tell him. "M'ybe he's bit stiff necked, an' he says, 'Go tell youse
Marster Ise wants to see him'."Ise says, 'Yes suh! Yes suh!, den goes an' tells de Marster he wants to speak to him."M'ybe Marster looks outer de winder 'gain an' looks him ovah 'gain, or m'ybe not, but he always says, 'Youse go tell him dat if'n he can't tell youse what he wants, he can go plum to
hell!' An' he meant it. "Ise don't know what'd happen if de world kep' on dat away. 'Twas pow'ful rotten. W'en de niggers sees a poor white man's wife an' daughtah aint got no clothes, no food, dey steals old Mistez's dress right off de line, an' goes into de smokehouse fo'
rations, den totes 'em to de poor fo'ks. Yes suh! Dat's de nigger slave all ovah. Can't stand to see no suffer'n."'Twas tudder thing dat am rotten, but de niggers can't do nothin' 'bout dat, 'cause dey's teached dat 'twas right if'n de white men says so. 'Twas w'en de white slave ownah fo'gits his wife
an' stays wid de nigger wenches. 'Twas pow'ful sorry, but de niggers aint edumacated lak dey am now. De nigger kids plays wid de white kids w'en dey's small. Purrty soon, de white kids goes to school, an' larns to read an' write. Dey comes home, an' still plays wid de niggers. W'en playin' 'round, de white
kids shows off how much dey larns at school, an' teaches de niggers 'til old Marster finds out. Den he closes de curtain on all dat."Talkin' 'bout kids, Ise almos' bo'n on de Glover
plantation nex' to de Blackwell
plantation. Youse see, my pappy am de Blackwell
stud, an' he am de kind of a big, strong pow'ful nigger dat de plantation ownahs wants to breed dey slave stock up wid, so he am used on de Glover
place. It jus' happen dat Marster buys my mammy from de Glovers
aftah my pappy bred her, an' Ise bo'n right on de Blackwell
place wid him. Yes suh, dat's de way 'twas 'cause dey told me so, many times ovah Dat stud business caused de young bucks lotsa troublement. Ise found dat out w'en Ise gits to be young man, an' wants to do a little steppin'. 'Twas alright 'bout de steppin' long's de overseer an' de Marster don't
find out 'bout it, but bettah not step wid de stud's wenches 'cause he s'posed to 'po't youse to de overseer or de Marster, an' den de young buck gits de bat, or de whup. Co'se, 'twas lotsa steppin' de stud, overseer, an' de Marster don't know 'bout 'cause 'twas done 'twix dark an' mo'nin'. Only time dey
finds it out am w'en de young buck done stepped too far an' can't make it back to his cabin befo' mo'nin' an' de roll call. Den, too, weuns am 'lowed to visit at times, but always goes wid de pass. Well, w'en de paterroller catches mistah young buck out at night widout de pass, den mistah young buck catches
de whup right den, an' 'gain w'en he am 'po'ted at home. "All de whuppin' am done at de whuppin' post neah de overseer's house. Marster done all de whuppin' hisself, 'cept on de womens fo'ks. Old Mistez don't 'low anybody to whup de womens 'cept herself. She done dat. Cose,
now, she whupped pow'ful hahd but am sho w'en she whups, dat a whuppin' am comin fo' not doin' de wo'k, an' not f'om makin' some white man mad 'bout some little old somethin' or tudder. "Sho, an' Ise seen sev'al whuppin's whar de blood run down kinda fast. Dat's mos'ly fo'
runawayers. Nigger George
am a runawayer, an' am pow'ful fast an' sneaky. He am so skeert an' ready to tun, dat de patterrollers an' all de dawgs in de country can't catch him. "Marster 'ranges one time to have a ball. Sho! Weuns have dances, balls, an' lotsa fun. Now, at dis ball, he 'ranges wid de
fiddler to git word to George
'bout de fun, den give de word w'en to close in an' catch George
. Well, de ball am gwine on merrily, an' in come mistah George
. De fiddler starts de new song lak dis: "'Old Marster, heah we are, Old Marster, heah we are, Old Marster, heah we are Have to slip in easy, For he's a little bit wild.' "He sung dat jus' so good, an' w'en he's playin', Ise seen dem niggers
buck an' wing dis high off'n de flooah, wid de pots an' pans gwine on an' keepin' time right wid de music. 'Twas pow'ful hahd to keep youse feet still, de music am so good. W'en de Marster heah dem words, why, de patterrollers jus' slips up and catches mistah George
so easy. "Weuns have lotsa dances dem days, an' wid jus' one fiddle, why, de niggers have so much music an' swing to it dat weuns jus' loves to sing an' dance. 'Twas a numbah of tudder songs, but de words am mos'ly made up right den. Dere's de 'Run Nigger Run' dat goes lak dis:
"'Run nigger run, patterroller catch youse, Run nigger run, case its almost day, Dat nigger run, dat nigger flew, Dat nigger lost his weddin' shoe. Ovah de hill an' down de holler, Patterroller catch dat nigger by de collar, Dat nigger run an' dat nigger flow, Dat nigger tore his
pants in two.' "Den, 'twas tudder songs. Heahs tudder one Ise 'membahs: "'Cold frosty mo'nin', poor nigger mighty good, His axe upon his shouldah, an' his body to de woods, Great big ash cake, an' not a bit of fat, Marster was a grumblah, if he
eat too much of dat, Fifteen cents, an' a paddle on de fence, Dat great big nigger, he aint got a lick of sense'.
Den, heahs one weuns larned aftah surrendah:
"'W'en Gen'al Lee
surrendahed, 'Twas undah de sour apple tree, He broke up all dem farmers, An' he set poor darkie free.' "Ise tell you right now, de music dem words am set to make dese Cab Calloways
of today git to de woods an' hide. Long's a man warnt so drunk he's plum out, he jus' have to git up an' jig or dance w'en dat music starts. Yes suh! I aint foolin' a-tall. "Tudder things weuns have fun at am de co'n huskins. All de niggers f'om 'way 'round gathers at
each co'n gatherin, an' husks de co'n. Weuns all in one bunch, an' jus' goes f'om one place to de tudder. De fun am w'en youse finds a red ear of co'n. Dat means youse gits a extra drink, an' ahead tudder fellows as aint got none. W'en youse gits de white ear, dat am some mo' fun 'cause youse can jus' pick
out de gal youse wants to give you a big hug an' a kiss. Yes suh! Jus' pick her out, an' she grabs youse. Why, Ise druther be back dere right now dan fo' all de freedoms in de world. Yes suh! "Tudder thing 'bout dat gwine 'round dat away am dat de tudder plantations
th'ows a big feed fo' all de slaves at meal times. Yes suh! De best grub aint too good den, an' 'twas far bettah dan Ise had since. Ise can tell youse dat well 'nough! "Co'se now, old Marster an' Mistez am real good to weuns dat b'longs to dem, but de tudder plantations
does dis way an' dat. Some, lak de Glovers
, treats dey slaves so bad dat if deys dead now, an' dere am a place sich as hell, den deys jus' mort'ly bound to be dere right now. At de co'n huskins an' sich, deys good to all de slaves, an' treats all de same. Co'se now, de patterrollers am all rough wid de niggers but deys paid for dat. W'en dey meets a
nigger, dey says, 'Heah, nigger! Whar at youse all gwine?' Weuns answers whar and he says, 'Youse gotta pass?' "'Yes suh!, den weuns hauls it out, he looks at it, an' goes on whar he's headed. If'n youse aint gotta pass, too bad. "Ise
mentioned de Glover place next to Marster's. I use to think de sun rise an' set in him. He come visit Marster Blackwell
often, an' w'en Ise see him comin', Ise runs to de gate an' opens it. He rides through on old Gen'al, an' waits 'til Ise shuts de gate. Den he holds his hand down, an' Ise grabs it. He gives me a little pull, an' Ise jumps up on de hoss 'hind him, an' dat's de way weuns ride to headquatahs togedder. Yes suh!,
dat's de way. "One day aftah de wah begins, Ise see him a-comin' on old Gen'al, an' Ise runs to open de gate lak befo'. 'Twas a diffe'nce 'twix den an' befo', though, 'cause he don't hold his hand down lak befo'. Old Gen'al act de same. He wait, den w'en Ise open de
gate, he tote Marster Glover
through de same way an' wait, but Marster don't hold his hand down. Ise notice befo' dat he am all bent ovah on his saddle lak some pain done struck him, an' he don't say nothin'. Things begun to pop 'round dat plantation, though, w'en Ise sees blood on his foot. Dat skeert me plum through an' through, an'
Ise went to hollerin' lak Ise kilt myself. Old Marster an' some white friends of his come a-runnin' to see what done gwine wrong, an' w'en dey sees what's de matter, dey sent me off. Old Marster Glover
done been shot on de way ovah, an' am done dead w'en Ise open de gate fo' him. Many's de night since den dat Ise laid awake fo' awhile an' thunk 'bout how he ride dat hoss an' he dead at de same time. "Oh, dat wah am a tough p'oposition fo' ever'body. If a white man didn't
weah a unifo'm, both sides shot him fust an' ast questions aftah. If he had papahs on him tellin' dat he am in service fo' de side dat catches him, den he stands a chancet to do alright, but if he aint got no papahs, den he's in a bad way. De old men had to have papahs on dem tellin' dat dey got sons in de
wah, or dey gets shot. "In de fust place, dem poor whites dat fought on de Southern side didn't have no business fightin'. Heahs de way 'twas wo'ked: De big plantation ownahs lak Blackwell
, Glover
, Bassfields
, an' so on, dey'd go to de poor white man an' shake his hand. Dey'd say, 'Well, how youse farm makin' out?'
"Co'se de farm aint makin' no out, an' de big man knowed it all de time, but he wants to make de 'pression on de poor man. De poor man gits all flustrated, an' says he could do bettah. "Den de big man gives hima cigah, lights both of 'em one, rears
back aftah pattin' him on de shouldahs, an' says: "'Well, youse is now gotta chancet to have some niggers. Youse wants some niggers, don't youse?' "Co'se de poor man's always wanted some niggers, 'cause de niggers'd make him some money an'
he'd git so's he don't have to do all dat hahd wo'k. Den de big man says: "'Well, dem big monied men up in de North dere, dey's fo'ced a fight. Dey don't want to pay all dat money fo' our cotton, an' we's gotta have a good price to make money. Now, Ise will tell youse what Ise
will do. If'n youse will git in dat fight, an' fight to win, Ise will give you 25 niggers. Old Glover
dere, now Ise sho he'll do de same, an' Bassfield
, he'll do de same, an' tudders will do de same. Why, you'll have more dan a 100 niggers w'en youse gits back f'om de wah. Why, man, youse will be rich! Youse wants de niggers don't youse?' "An' de poor white man am feelin' good all ovah, thinkin'
'bout all dem niggers out a-makin' him money, an' he goes off to de wah, thinkin' w'en he comes back he'll have a-plenty fo' de res' of his life. Yes suh!, Ise know dat to be a fack, 'cause Ise talked to mo' dan one of dem fellows. "Sojers on both sides passed an' repassed our
plantation. Evah time dey passed, dey'd be a week, ten days a-passin', an' dey'd clean weuns outer rations evah time dey passed. Dey'd go into de hen house an' clean it plum out in one night. A squad of men'd go aftah a hawg, an' w'en dey found him, one'd th'ow him, tudder'd rip him wid his saber, tudder'd
have a good fire gwine time dat was done, an' dey'd have de hair singed off, an' de tudder side de meat layin' on de fire befo' you could say 'rabbit foot'. Dem fellers was experts at dat trick. 'Twas a show to see dem in action, if'n 'twarnt dey was takin' our rations right outen our mouths. Weuns have to
go to bed hongry many a night aftah de sojers come paid a visit. "'Twas a hahd job fo' to p'ovide rations fo' so many w'en de Marster had so many niggers he don't know his own f'om somebody else's w'en he meet dem in de row. 'Twas so many dat weuns don't even pay no 'tention
to who's kin to who. Well, dat warnt de only reason, 'cause de sellin' an' buyin' so much got weuns all mixed up, too, an' weuns got so weuns jus' don't care. 'Sides buyin' an sellin' fo' to get bettah help on a place an' gittin' some ready cash, dey'd git rid of a nigger dat don't mate up wid de wench dey
wants him to mate up wid. Lak dis, if'n de Marster see a big, comely wench, an' he wants some big niggers bred f'om her, he put her wid de stud, an' de stud am de only man s'posed to mess wid her at any time. Den, s'posin' de nigger loves somebody else an' de man loves her. Well, de Marster see dat, an' he
gits rid of him. 'Twas only one thing wrong 'bout dat. If'n he don't want dat buck 'round dat wench, he bettah sell him a thousand miles away if'n he don't want dat buck to see dat wench, 'cause he'll see her evah night if'n 'taint far to go. Yes suh! Ise knows 'cause Ise dere, johnny on de spot.
"Ise always thankful dat 'twarnt de fightin' done 'round de plantation. Jus' a little shootin', an' dat's all Ise knows 'bout. Weuns don't even know w'en de end of de wah comes, 'cept w'en de Marster rings de headquatahs bell to come dere. He ring it
hisself an' ring it a long time to be sure all de niggers am dere. 'Twas nevah done dat way befo', 'cause befo' w'en 'twas done, 'twas done fo' de roll call w'en one of de slaves am missin', an' dey wants to be sho he am gone fo' sho befo' dey makes any fuss 'bout it. "Well,
weuns gang 'round de f'ont po'ch, an' he comes out to de edge of de steps an' says: Now, Ise through wid youse'. One of de old niggers, old Uncle Tom
, he says:
"'What youse mean?' Tudder nigger says:
"'Aw! He means to go back to wo'k'. Marster says:
"'No, Ise means dat youse can go anywhar'. Tudder old darkey says:
"'Whar dat place, Marster? Ise nevah heah of dat befo''.
"Youse see, all weuns evah heah befo' am: "'Tom
, youse take youse gang down to de cane-brake an' clean dat place out in de conah. Si
, youse take youse gang down to dat fence row on de North side an' takes care of dat wo'k dere. Jim
, youse take youse gang down to de far conah of de cotton patch, an' clean out dat patch of grass dat's come in dere since de last rains', an' so on. Dat's all weuns evah heah befo', an' can't hahdly undahstand what all old Marster am sayin' to weuns."Old Mistez am a-standin' back of him wid a
han'kerchief a-wo'kin at her eyes, an' she says:
'Let me talk to dem'.
"Old Marster says:
"'Dere dey is. Talk to dem'.
"Old Mistez says, wid stops fo' breath: 'Youse boys go to wo'k. We gwine pay youse wages f'om heah on, or share de crop wid youse'.
"Marster says:
"Dat's right. Go to wo'k. We pay youse what's right'.
"Den weuns all passed on to wo'k, a-tryin' to figger out what de upshot gwine be of all dis heah talk weuns heah de Marster an' old Mistez say. "Latah on, some gits paid by de week, tudders two weeks, an' some by de month. Some de smaht niggers gits de
share de crop plan, an' makes mo' money by it, but youse finds dat whar evah youse goes. Weuns all been a-larnin' mo' an' mo' evah since den, an' now weuns knows mo' dan 'Boys, Ise wants youse to go down to dat co'n patch an' clean it up'. Yes suh! Weuns knows a right smaht mo' dan dat, but weuns'll nevah
know as much as some of dese uppity young bucks weuns got nowadays, dat know mo' dan weuns can evah hope to find out. "Ise stays wid Marster Blackwell 'til Ise 'round onto 40 yeahs old befo' Ise leaves him. All dat time, Ise paid by de week, jus' like old Mistez says. Nevah
missed a week gittin' de payroll. Can't say dat 'bout since I lef' dere. "Twas a wondahful world aftah freedom. All de whites an' blacks mingles togedder, an' de color line aint drawed nowhar. Co'se de niggers knowed dey place, an' 'twarnt no trouble 'bout dat, lak I heahs 'twas tudder places. What Ise
means am dat de niggers goes to chu'ch diffe'nt dan befo'. Durin' slavery times, Ise been to chu'ch, but w'en Ise goes, Ise in charge of de Marster's chilluns, an' Ise sat 'way up on what would nowadays be de th'rd balcony. Dat am fo' de darkies. "Diffe'nt preachin', too, since
de niggers aint slaves no mo'. Preacher'd say to de slaves:'Youse obey youse Marsters. If youse disobey, dey can put youse to death'. "Den he'd say to de Marsters: 'Youse am charged wid de 'sponsibility of a soul. If'n youse
mistreats it, den de Lawd will deal wid youse Hisself.' "Aftah slavery, de blacks an' whites goes to school an' chu'ch togedder, an' de kids all plays togedder. On Sundays, old Marster's f'ont yahd looked lak a flowah yahd wid de black an' white kids all a-playin' 'round
togedder, a-havin' de time of dere lives. Ise tellin' youse now, 'twas de happiest time of our lives w'en 'twarnt diffe'nce made 'way back dere. Weuns 'preciated de freedom mo', 'cause weuns am able to git a square meal once mo', an' not have some sojer boy come jerk it right outen f'om undah our noses, so to
speak. Den, too, Ise will nachally always believe old Mistez loved all her niggers, 'cause she seen aftah dem aftah freedom jus' lak she done befo'. She seen 'twarnt no mistreatment, an' dat all am treated good as possible. "Dat time right aftah freedom am alright. Youse might
think Ise lyin' now, w'en Ise tells youse dat Ise seen de time w'en 'twarnt no banks, no penitentiaries, county roads, jails, galluses, nor no pea patch. Yes suh! Ise seen dat time aftah freedom. Dey got youse fo' stealin' a hawg. Don't need no witnesses dem days. De judge ask youse: "'Nigger,
youse steal dat hawg?' "'Yes suh. Ise steal dat hawg.'
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