Uncle Remus and Bre'r Rabbit

Week 14: American Tales - Assignments - Reading - Resources - Images

A PLANTION SERENADE

Reading time: (2 minutes)
In addition to the Christian revival hymns, Harris also collected some secular songs about life on the plantation. These songs combine a cynical wisdom about the ways of the world (De ole bee make de honey-comb, / De young bee make de honey, / De niggers make de cotton en co'n, / En de w'ite folks gits de money) with a sense of the pleasures of life, which you better just catch wherever you can, such as "huntin' for de muscadine."

DE ole bee make de honey-comb,
De young bee make de honey,
De niggers make de cotton en co'n,
En de w'ite folks gits de money.

De raccoon he's a cu'us man,
He never walk twel dark,
En nuthin' never 'sturbs his mine,
Twel he hear ole Bringer bark.

De raccoon totes a bushy tail,
De 'possum totes no ha'r,
Mr. Rabbit, he come skippin' by,
He ain't got none ter spar'.

Monday mornin' break er day,
W'ite folks got me gwine,
But Sat'dy night, w'en do sun goes down,
Dat yaller gal's in my mine.

Fifteen poun' er meat a week,
W'isky for ter sell,
Oh, how can a young man stay at home,
Dem gals dey look so well?

Met a 'possum in de road-
Bre' 'Possum, whar you gwine?
I thank my stars, I bless my life,
I'm a huntin' for de muscadine.

Questions. Make sure you can answer these questions about what you just read:

  • what does the man have to do on Monday mornings?
  • what does he do on Saturday nights?
  • what does the song say Brer Possum is doing on on the road?

Source: Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (1881).Weblink.

Modern Languages / Anthropology 3043: Folklore & Mythology. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one.
Page last updated: October 9, 2004 12:52 PM