Marse Glenn
From:
South Carolina
Project 1885-1
From Field Notes.
District No. 4.
April 27, 1937
Edited by:
Elmer Turnage
FOLK LORE: FOLK TALES (Negro).
"Marse Glenn had 64 slaves. On Sat'day night, de darkies would have a
little fun on de side. A way off from de big house, down in de pastur'
dar wuz about de bigges' gully what I is ebber seed. Dat wuz de place
whar us collected mos' ev'ry Sa'day night fer our lil' mite o' fun frum
de white folks hearin'. Sometime it wuz so dark dat you could not see de
fingers on yo' han' when you would raise it fo' your face. Dem wuz sho'
schreechy nights; de schreechiest what I is ever witnessed, in all o' my
born natu'al days. Den of cose, dar wuz de moonlight nights when a darky
could see; den he see too much. De pastur' wuz big and de trees made
dark spots in it on de brightest nights. All kind o' varmints tuck and
hollered at ye as ye being gwine along to reach dat gully. Cose us would
go in droves sometime, and den us would go alone to de gully sometime.
When us started together, look like us would git parted 'fo we reach de
gully all together. One of us see som'tin and take to runnin'. Maybe de
other darkies in de drove, de wouldn't see nothin' jes den. Dats zactly
how it is wid de spirits. De mout (might) sho de'self to you and not to
me. De acts raal queer all de way round. Dey can take a notion to scare
de daylights outtin you when you is wid a gang; or dey kin scare de
whole gang; den, on de other hand, dey kin sho de'self off to jes two or
three. It ain't never no knowin' as to how and when dem things is gwine
to come in your path right fo your very eyes; specially when you is
partakin' in some raal dark secret whar you is planned to act raal sof'
and quiet like all de way through.
"Dem things bees light on dark nights; de shines de'self jes like dese
'lectric lights does out dar in dat street ever' night, 'cept dey is a
scaird waary light dat dey shines wid. On light nights, I is seed dem
look, furs dark like a tree shad'er; den dey gits raal scairy white.
T'aint no use fer white folks to low dat it ain't no haints, an'
grievements dat follows ye all around, kaise I is done had to many
'spriences wid dem. Den dare is dese young niggers what ain't fit to be
called darkies, dat tries to ac' eddicated, and says dat it ain't any
spe'rits dat walks de earth. When dey lows dat to me, I rolls my old
eyes at dem an' axes dem how comes dey runs so fas' through de woods at
night. Yes sirree, dem fool niggers sees dem jes as I does. Raaly de
white folks doesn't have eyes fer sech as we darkies does; but dey bees
dare jes de same.
"Never mindin' all o' dat, we n'used to steal our hog ever' sa'day night
and take off to de gully whar us'd git him dressed and barbecued.
Niggers has de mos'es fun at a barbecue dat dare is to be had. As none
o' our gang didn't have no 'ligion, us never felt no scruples bout not
gettin de 'cue' ready fo' Sunday. Us'd git back to de big house along in
de evenin' o' Sunday. Den Marse, he come out in de yard an' low whar wuz
you niggers dis mornin'. How come de chilluns had to do de work round
here. Us would tell some lie bout gwine to a church 'siety meetin'. But
we got raal scairt and mose 'cided dat de best plan wuz to do away wid
de barbecue in de holler. Conjin 'Doc.' say dat he done put a spell on
ole Marse so dat he wuz 'blevin ev'y think dat us tole him bout Sa'day
night and Sunday morning. Dat give our minds 'lief; but it turned out
dat in a few weeks de Marse come out from under de spell. Doc never
even knowed nothin' bout it. Marse had done got to countin' his hogs
ever' week. When he cotch us, us wuz all punished wid a hard long task.
Dat cured me o' believing in any conjuring an' charmin' but I still
kno's dat dare is haints; kaise ever time you goes to dat gully at
night, up to dis very day, you ken hear hogs still gruntin' in it, but
you can't see nothing.
"After Marse Glenn tuck and died, all o' de white folks went off and
lef' de plantation. Some mo' folks dat wuz not o' quality, come to live
dare an' run de plantation. It wuz done freedom den. Wo'nt long fo dem
folks pull up and lef' raal onexpected like. I doesn't recollect what
dey went by, fat is done slipped my mind; but I must 'av knowed. But dey
lowed dat de house wuz to draffy and dat dey couldn't keep de smoke in
de chimney an' dat de doo's would not stay shet. Also dey lowed dat
folks prowled aroun' in de yard in de night time a keepin' dem awake.
"Den Marse Glenn's boys put Mammy in de house to keep it fer 'em. But
Lawd God! Mammy said dat de furs night she stayed dare de haints nebber
let her git not narr'y mite o' sleep. Us all had lowed dat wuz de raal
reason dem white folks lef out so fas'. When Mammy could not live in dat
big house whar she had stayed fer years, it won't no use fer nobody else
to try. Mammy low dat it de Marse a lookin' fer his money what he done
tuck and burried and de boys couldn't find no sign o' it. Atter dat, de
sons tuck an' tacked a sign on de front gate, offering $200.00 to de
man, white or black, dat would stay dar and fin' out whar dat money wuz
burried. Our preacher, the Rev. Wallace, lowed dat he would stay dar and
find out whar dat money wuz from de spirits. He knowed dat dey wuz tryin
to sho de spot what dat money wuz.
"He went to bed. A dog began running down dem steps; and a black cat run
across de room dat turned to white befo' it run into de wall. Den a pair
of white horses come down de stairway a rattling chains fer harness.
Next a woman dressed in white come in dat room. Brother Wallace up and
lit out dat house and he never went back no mo'.
"Another preacher tried stayin' dar. He said he gwine to keep his head
kivered plum up. Some'tin unkivered it and he seed a white goat a
grinnin' at him. But as he wuz a brave man and trus' de Lawd, he lowed,
'What you want wid me nohow?' The goat said, 'what is you doin' here.
Raise, I knows dat you ain't sleep.' De preacher say, 'I wants you to
tell me what ole Marse don tuck and hid dat money?' De goat grin and
low, 'How come you don' look under your pillar, sometime?' Den he run
away. De preacher hopped up and looked under de pillar, and dar wuz de
money sho nuf. Peers like it wuz de one on de lef' end o' de back porch,
but I jes remembers 'bout dat."
Source: Mrs. M. E. Abrams, Whitmire, S. C.; told her by old "uncle"
"Mad" Griffin, Whitmire, (Col. 82 yrs.) Interviewer: Caldwell Sims,
Union, S. C. 2/25/37.
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Ezra Adams
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Alberta Minor
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