413
Clare de Kitchen
S. Foster Damon reprints {Scries of Old American Songs No.
16) T. D. Rice's form of this favorite of the minstrel stage of a
hundred years ago, from the Harris collection at Brown University.
Miss Scarborough also gives it (TNFS iio-ii). Damon says that
it "is trt'ciuently found in the songsters after 1836"; one form of
it was printed in Baltimore as early as 1832. It is essentially a
medley of nonsense verses, and as such takes on various elements
in tradition (from which, prohably, it was originally taken up by
the minstrel stage). The refrain has been reported from South
Carolina (TNFS no), Florida (ibid.), and Illinois (JAFL xxxii
492). The stanza about the old horse is reported from Virginia
(TNFS 163-4), Tennessee (JAFL xxvi 123), and Indiana (SSSA
237), and without definite location by Ford {Traditional Music of
America 407-8) ; one about the terrapin and the toad (possum and
toad in our text) from Virginia (TNFS 164, 106) and from Ten-
nessee (JAFL XXVI 123).
A
'Old Jim Crow.' Contributed by Mrs. Emma W. Smith of Salisbury,
Rowan county, in 1922. With the tune. The title given is not justified
I)y the text; it is to be explained by the fact that her "Uncle John" is
"old Jim Crow" in the Rice version.
1 I saw Uncle John come riding by.
Says I, 'Uncle John, your horse will die.'
'If he does. I'll tan his skin.
If he don't. I'll ride him agin.'
Chorus:
Clear the kitchen, old folks, young folks.
Clear the kitchen, old Virginia never tire.
2 As I went up the new-cut road
I spied a possum and a toad.
Every time the toad did jump
The possum dodged behind the stump.
3 The gals are so proud they won't eat mush.
And when I go to court them they .say '(Jh hush.'
I wish I was back in old Kentuck.
For since I hove her here^ I had no luck.
B
'Clear the Kitchen.' Reported in 1914 by Miss Amy Henderson of
Worry. Burke county, as "a fragment of an old song.'' Dr. White notes
upon the manuscript that these stanzas "belong to the old minstrel
repertory." Cf. "Clar de Kitchen.' The Popular Xatioiial Soiii/ster. and
Lucy Xcal and Dan Tucker's Delif/ht. . . . Philadelphia : Published by
John B. Perry, 1845, pp. 153-4. One stanza of 'Clare de Kitchen' in
The Virginia Warbler (Richmond, 1845), p. 92, is similar to stanza 2
in B text.
I In old Kaintuck in the afternoon
We swep the floor with a brand new broom,
And after tliat we'd form a ring
And this is the song that we would sing :
Clear the kitchen, old folks, young folks.
Clear the kitchen ;
Old Virginny never tire.
2 A hull frog dressed in soldier's clothes
Went to the field to shoot some crows.
The crows smelt the powder and all flew away ;
The hull frog mighty mad that day.
Clear the kitchen, old folks, young folks,
Clear the kitchen;
Old Virginny never tire.
^ The meaning of this phrase is not clear.
-----------------------------
413 Clare De Kitchen
'Old Jim Crow.' Sung by Mrs. Emma W. Smith, Salisbury, Rowan county,
in 1922. For another version cf. MSON 152.
F-384
saw Un - cle John come rid - ing by. Says
I, 'Un - cle John, your horse will die.' 'If he does, I'U
tan his skin, If he don't, I'll ride him a - gin.'
Clear the kitch - en, old folks, young folks, Clear the
kitch - en, old Vir - gin tire.
Scale: Hexatonic (4), plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: abashed (2,2,2,
2,2,4) = aab (4,4,6) = mmn = barform.
'Clare de Kitchen.' Sung by Miss Amy Henderson (Mrs. W. C. in the MS
score) of Worry, Burke county, in 1914. The ms score states : "A Negro Dance
before the War." MSON 152 ascribes the song to T. Rice. Cf. also Negro
Singer's Ozvn Book, 323 : 'Old Wurginny neber tire.'
F-385
In old Kain - tuck in the af - ter - noon
We swep' the floor with a brand new broom,
And af - ter that we'd form a ring
And this is the song that we do sing:
So, cl'are de kit - chen, old folks, young folks,Crare de kitch - en.
old folks, young folks. Old Vir - gin - ny never tire.
For melodic relationship cf. ***MSON 152; Ford 105. Scale: Heptachordal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: aa^bbcc^d (2,2,2,2,2,2,2)
= abed (4,4,4,2). The tonal center is the lowest tone.