-3-

de folks wuz allus a goin' mo' on Sunday. Ef dey wuz a death in de fam'- 

ly  we diden do no regular wuk in de fiel's."

      "We wuz let go to shows when dey come to Carlisle.  I member

goin' to see Dan Rice's Circus dat use to come to Carlisle ever yeah."

      "When we had baptisms we used a big pond or pool, an' sometimes de

creek.  I cant member no songs, but I use to hear, "Nobody Knows De Trouble

I see"; De Gospel Train is Comin".

      "Dey wuz doctors in dem days, but not ez many ez now.  Folks doctor-

ed wid home rem'dies; mullen, catnip, an' elder blossom tea,  horehound,

sassafras tea, yellow root an' sasparilla.  De, too, dey allus mixt a jar

of sorghum molasses an' sulphur fur a blood purifer to be tuk in de

spring of de yeah."

      "Folks use to, an' still carry a rabbit's foot fur good luck.

Breakin' a looking glass wuz bad luck, but ef it wuz throwed in a runnin'

stream de bad luck would flow away.  Folks use to be awful skeered ef

dogs howled er owls hooted near de house.  Some folks cut moles  feet off,

to mek them cut teeth easy."

      "I left an' jined de army when I wuz 18.  But forty of us fum de

 plantation roun' near Carlisle went at de same time. When we wuz off

 fur de army, doin' down a dusty road, three white fellers we knowed

 come a ridin' up, an'  says, "Whar you darkies goin'? We tole em we wuz

 goin' to wah, an' dey tried to mek us go back to de plantation.  We tole

 em we'd kill em sho' ef dey kep' on meddlin' wid us, an dey got skeered

an' let is 'lone."

       "In one de battles I got shot in  de lef' an', and' I tied it up       

 my ownself.  De captain he noticed it one day, an' he ax to see it.




			

Works Progress Administration (WPA) Ex-Slave Narratives

William Emmons, Ex-Slave Narrative