Canada (I)

DESCRIPTION: "I'm on my way to Canada, that cold and dreary land, The dire effects of slavery I can no longer stand. So fare you well old master, Don't come after me, Just in sight of Canada..." yet the slave fears she will be caught before reaching it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Thomas-DevilsDitties)
KEYWORDS: slave freedom escape dog
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-DevilsDitties, pp. 174-175, "Canada" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #8891
NOTES [86 words]: Thomas claims to have learned this from her mother, but I don't think it's folk -- let alone from Black tradition." What ex-slave would use the words "the dire effects of slavery"? Also, what are the odds that a slave in sight of the Canadian border would have hounds on her tail? Yes, it theoretically could happen after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law as part of the Compromise of 1850 -- but even if the hunt tailed the slave all the way north (unlikely), the hounds would have been left behind by then. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.5
File: ThDD174

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