The Year of Jubilee

SAY, 1 darkeys, hab you seen de massa, Wid de muffstash on he face, Go long de road some time dis mornin’, Like he gwine leabe de place? He see de smoke way up de ribber Whar de Lincum gunboats lay; He took he hat an’ leff berry sudden, And I spose he ’s runned away. De massa run, ha, ha! De darkey stay, ho, ho! It mus’ be now de kingdum comin’, An’ de yar ob jubilo. He six foot one way an’ two foot todder, An’ he weigh six hundred poun’; His coat so big he couldn’t pay de tailor, An’ it won’t reach half way roun’; He drill so much dey calls him cap’n, An he git so mighty tanned, I spec he ’ll try to fool dem Yankees, For to tink he contraband. De massa run, ha, ha! De darkey stay, ho, ho! It mus’ be now de kingdum comin’, An’ de yar ob jubilo. De darkeys got so lonesome libb’n In de log hut on de lawn, Dey moved dere tings into massa’s parlor For to keep it while he gone. Dar ’s wine an’ cider in de kitchin, An’ de darkeys dey hab some, I spec it will be all fiscated, When de Lincum sojers come. De massa run, ha, ha! De darkey stay, ho, ho! It mus’ be now de kingdum comin’, An’ de yar ob jubilo. De oberseer he makes us trubble, An’ he dribe us roun’ a spell, We lock him up in de smoke-house cellar, Wid de key flung in de well. De whip am lost, de han’-cuff broke, But de massy hab his pay; He big an’ ole enough for to know better Dan to went an’ run away. De massa run, ha, ha! De darkey stay, ho, ho! It mus’ be now de kingdum comin’, An’ de yar ob jubilo. Note 1. Sung by negro troops when entering Richmond. George Cary Eggleston, in his collection of “American War Ballads,” says that it soon found favor among the people and “was sung with applause by young men and maidens in well-nigh every house in Virginia.” [back]