423
Some Folks Say that a Nigger W'on't Steal
For the song based on this line, its distribution and its history,
see ANFS 370-2, and add South Carolina (JAFL xliv 425) and
the Midwest (Ford's Traditional Music of America i7i)- It seems
to be equally familiar to whites and blacks. It is associated, in our
North Carolina texts, with various refrains : with "you shall be
free" in E and F, with "run, nigger, run" in G and H, and with
"way down yonder in the cornfield" in I (so too in Ford's text).
The texts are mostly of one stanza, never, apparently, in North
Carolina, of more than two and a refrain. Although they are much
alike, they vary in details, and most of them are therefore given
here in full. Cf. 'Whar Did You Cum From?' The Popular Na-
tional Songster, etc. (Philadelphia, 1845), PP- 187-8.
No title. From Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, in 1923 or thereabouts.
In this and the three following no refrain is indicated.
1 Some people say a negro won't steal.
I caught two in my corn field :
One had a shovel, the other had a hoe.
If that ain't stealing I don't know.
2 Some say that a negro won't steal.
But I caught three in my cornfield.
I ran them down a ])ine thicket.
Stuck my head in a yellowjacket's nest.
B
'Some Say dat a Nigger Won't Steal.' Reported by David T. House,
Jr., of Durham, in 1919. The first stanza of A with only slight verbal
differences.
IJ I. A C K F A C K M 1 N S T R K I. . N E (; K O SON C S 509
c
'Song.' Contributed by Miss Minnie Bryan Farrior of Duplin county.
No date given.
Some folks say a iiigj^er won't steal,
But I caught three in niy corntiekl ;
One had a bushel and one had a peck,
And one had some hung around his neck.
D
No title, l-'roni Miss Kate S. Russell, Roxboro, Person county. Not
dated.
Some folks say that a nigger won't steal.
1 catight forty in my corn field ;
One had a bushel and one had a peck
One had a roasten-ear tied around his neck.
E
'Some Folks Say that a Negro Won't Steal." From Lucille Massey,
Durham. This has the "you shall be free" refrain. The same as A
except for the refrain, which runs :
Oh, moana, you shall be free,
Oh, moana, you shall be free
When the good Lord sets you free.
F
'Oh, Mourner.' Reported by Clara Hearne of Pittsboro, Chatham county,
in 1923. This is the longest of the North Carolina texts.
Some folks say a nigger won't steal,
But I caught seven in my cornfield.
One had a bushel and the other had a peck.
One had a roas'n' ear strung around his neck.
Refrain:
Oh, moana. you shall be free
\\^hen the good Lord sets you free.
Some folks say a nigger won't steal.
But I caught two in my corn field.
One had a shovel, an' one had a hoe ;
If that ain't stealing I don't know.
Soitie folks say a nigger won't rouse.
But I caught two in my smoke-house ;
One had a middling and one had a ham
G
No title. From Flossie Marshbanks, Mars Hill, Madison county. It is
the same as A except that between the first two and the last two lines
a refrain is inserted :
N.C.F., Vnl. TTI. (3S)
510 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
Run, nigger, run. the pattyroll'll ketch you.
Run. nigger, run. it's ahiiost clay.
Run. nigger, run. the pattyroll'll ketch you.
Run. it's almost day.
H
No title. From Antoinette Beasley, Monroe, Union county. This con-
sists of the first half of A (with "six" for "two") and a shortened form
of tlie "run, nigger, run" refrain.
I
'Oh, Mourner.' From Miss Doris Overton, Durham, in 1922. It is a
curious conglomerate.
1 Some folks say that a nigger won't' steal.
Way down, wav down, way down yonder in the corn-
field.
But I caught one in my cornfield.
Way down, wav down, wav down vonder in the corn-
field.
One had a shovel and the other had a hoe.
Way down, wav down, wa\- down yonder in the cornfield.
2 If that ain't stealin'. I don't know.
Way down, wav down, way down vonder in the cornfield.
Oh, mourner, you' shall be free.
Way down, wax down, wav down, yonder in the cornfield.
When the good Lord sets you free.
Way down, wav down, wav down vonder in the cornfield.