thorns to make usselves dresses and hats to play in. I never did go to
school none so I don't know nothin' 'bout readin' and writin' and
spellin'. I can't spell my own name, but I think it begins wid a M.
Hit's too late to study 'bout all dat now 'cause my old brain couldn't
learn nothin'. Hit's done lost most all of what little I did know.

"Back in dem times, folkses cooked on open fireplaces in winter time and
in summer dey built cook stands out in de yard to set de spiders on, so
us could cook and eat outdoors. Dere warn't no stoves nowhar. When us
wuz hard up for sompin' green to bile 'fore de gyardens got goin' good,
us used to go out and git wild mustard, poke salad, or pepper grass. Us
et 'em satisfactory and dey never kilt us. I have et heaps of kinds of
diffunt weeds and I still eats a mess of poke salad once or twice a year
'cause it's good for you. Us cooked a naked hunk of fat meat in a pot
wid some corn dumplin's.

"De grown folks would eat de meat and de chilluns would sit around on de
floor and eat de potlikker and dumplin's out of tin pans. Us enjoyed dat
stuff jus' lak it had been pound cake.

"Dances in dem days warn't dese here huggin' kind of dances lak dey has
now. Dere warn't no Big Apple nor no Little Apple neither. Us had a
house wid a raised flatform (platform) at one end whar de music-makers
sot. Dey had a string band wid a fiddle, a trumpet, and a banjo, but
dere warn't no guitars lak dey has in dis day. One man called de sets
and us danced de cardrille (quadrille) de virginia reel, and de 16-hand
cortillion. When us made syrup on de farm dere would always be a candy
pullin'. Dat homemade syrup made real good candy. Den us would have a
big time at corn shuckin's too.