Driver, The

DESCRIPTION: The response is "O gwine away!" Leader's lines include "Fust ting my mammy tell me," "Tell me 'bout de nigger-driver," "Nigger-driver second devil," "Best ting for do he driver," "Knock he down and spoil he labor"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (Higginson-ArmyLifeInABlackRegiment)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad shanty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Higginson-ArmyLifeInABlackRegiment 36, p. 219, "The Driver" (1 text)
NOTES [38 words]: The description is from Higginson-ArmyLifeInABlackRegiment. In Higginson, an oarsman -- not a soldier -- tells how he made this song when the workers "went for to tote some rice and de nigger-driver he keep a-callin' on us." - BS
Last updated in version 6.7
File: Hi036219

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