Army Life in a Black Regiment Part 10

I'se been on de road into heaven, my Lord!

I can't stay behind!

O, room in dar, room in dar, Room in dar, in de heaven, my Lord!

I can't stay behind!

By this time every man within hearing, from oldest to youngest, would be wriggling and shuffling, as if through some magic piper's bewitchment; for even those who at first affected contemptuous indifference would be drawn into the vortex erelong.

Next to these in popularity ranked a cla.s.s of songs belonging emphatically to the Church Militant, and available for camp purposes with very little strain upon their symbolism. This, for instance, had a true companion-in-arms heartiness about it, not impaired by the feminine invocation at the end.

IV. HAIL MARY.

"One more valiant soldier here, One more valiant soldier here, One more valiant soldier here, To help me bear de cross.

O hail, Mary, hail!

Hail, Mary, hail!

Hail, Mary, hail!

To help me bear de cross."

I fancied that the original reading might have been "soul," instead of "soldier,"-with some other syllable inserted to fill out the metre,-and that the "Hail, Mary," might denote a Roman Catholic origin, as I had several men from St. Augustine who held in a dim way to that faith. It was a very ringing song, though not so grandly jubilant as the next, which was really impressive as the singers pealed it out, when marching or rowing or embarking.

V. MY ARMY CROSS OVER.

"My army cross over, My army cross over, O, Pharaoh's army drowndedl My army cross over.

"We'll cross de mighty river, My army cross over; We'll cross de river Jordan, My army cross over; We'll cross de danger water, My army cross over; We'll cross de mighty Myo, My army cross over. (Thrice.) O, Pharaoh's army drowndedl My army cross over."

I could get no explanation of the "mighty Myo," except that one of the old men thought it meant the river of death. Perhaps it is an African word. In the Cameroon dialect, "Mawa" signifies "to die."

The next also has a military ring about it, and the first line is well matched by the music. The rest is conglomerate, and one or two lines show a more Northern origin. "Done" is a Virginia shibboleth, quite distinct from the "been" which replaces it in South Carolina. Yet one of their best choruses, without any fixed words, was, "De bell done ringing," for which, in proper South Carolina dialect, would have been subst.i.tuted, "De bell been a-ring." This refrain may have gone South with our army.

VI. RIDE IN, KIND SAVIOUR.

"Ride in, kind Saviour!

No man can hinder me.

O, Jesus is a mighty man!

No man, &c.

We're marching through Virginny fields.

No man, &c.

O, Satan is a busy man, No man, &c.

And he has his sword and shield, No man, &c.

O, old Secesh done come and gone!

No man can hinder me."

Sometimes they subst.i.tuted "binder we," which was more spicy to the ear, and more in keeping with the usual head-over-heels arrangement of their p.r.o.nouns.

Almost all their songs were thoroughly religious in their tone, however quaint then: expression, and were in a minor key, both as to words and music. The att.i.tude is always the same, and, as a commentary on the life of the race, is infinitely pathetic. Nothing but patience for this life,-nothing but triumph in the next. Sometimes the present predominates, sometimes the future; but the combination is always implied. In the following, for instance, we hear simply the patience.

VII. THIS WORLD ALMOST DONE.

"Brudder, keep your lamp trimmin' and a-burnin', Keep your lamp trimmin' and a-burnin', Keep your lamp trimmin' and a-burnin', For dis world most done.

So keep your lamp, &c.

Dis world most done."

But in the next, the final reward of patience is proclaimed as plaintively.

VIII. I WANT TO GO HOME.

"Dere's no rain to wet you, O, yes, I want to go home.

Dere's no sun to burn you, O, yes, I want to go home; O, push along, believers, O, yes, &c.

Dere's no hard trials, O, yes, &c.

Dere's no whips a-crackin', O, yes, &c.

My brudder on de wayside, O, yes, &c.

O, push along, my brudder, O, yes, &c.

Where dere's no stormy weather, O, yes, &c.

Dere's no tribulation, O, yes, &c.

This next was a boat-song, and timed well with the tug of the oar.

IX. THE COMING DAY "I want to go to Canaan, I want to go to Canaan, I want to go to Canaan, To meet 'em at de comin' day.

O, remember, let me go to Canaan, (Thrice.) To meet "em, &c.

O brudder, let me go to Canaan, (Thrice.) To meet 'em, &c.

My brudder, you-oh!-remember, (Thrice.) To meet 'em at de comin' day."

The following begins with a startling affirmation, yet the last line quite outdoes the first. This, too, was a capital boat-song.

X. ONE MORE RIVER.

"O, Jordan bank was a great old bank, Dere ain't but one more river to cross.

We have some valiant soldier here, Dere ain't, &c.

O, Jordan stream will never run dry, Dere ain't, &c.

Dere's a hill on my leff, and he catch on my right, Dere ain't but one more river to cross."

I could get no explanation of this last riddle, except, "Dat mean, if you go on de leff, go to 'struction, and if you go on de right, go to G.o.d, for sure."

In others, more of spiritual conflict is implied, as in this next

XI. O THE DYING LAMB!

"I wants to go where Moses trod, O de dying Lamb!

For Moses gone to de promised land, O de dying Lamb!

To drink from springs dat never run dry, O, &c.

Cry O my Lord!

O, &c.

Before I'll stay in h.e.l.l one day, O, &c.

I'm in hopes to pray my sins away, O, &c.

Cry O my Lord!

0,&c.

Brudder Moses promised for be dar too, O, &c.

To drink from streams dat never run dry, O de dying Lamb!"

In the next, the conflict is at its height, and the lurid imagery of the Apocalypse is brought to bear. This book, with the books of Moses, const.i.tuted their Bible; all that lay between, even the narratives of the life of Jesus, they hardly cared to read or to hear.

XII. DOWN IN THE VALLEY.

"We'll run and never tire, We'll run and never tire, We'll run and never tire, Jesus set poor sinners free.

Way down in de valley, Who will rise and go with me?

You've heern talk of Jesus, Who set poor sinners free.

"De lightnin' and de flashin'

De lightnin' and de flashin', De lightnin' and de flashin', Jesus set poor shiners free.

I can't stand the fire. (Thrice.) Jesus set poor sinners free, De green trees a-flamin'. (Thrice.) Jesus set poor shiners free, Way down in de valley, Who will rise and go with me?

You've heern talk of Jesus Who set poor shiners free."

"De valley" and "de lonesome valley" were familiar words in their religious experience. To descend into that region implied the same process with the "anxious-seat" of the camp-meeting. When a young girl was supposed to enter it, she bound a handkerchief by a peculiar knot over her head, and made it a point of honor not to change a single garment till the day of her baptism, so that she was sure of being in physical readiness for the cleansing rite, whatever her spiritual mood might be. More than once, in noticing a damsel thus mystically kerchiefed, I have asked some dusky attendant its meaning, and have received the unfailing answer,-framed with their usual indifference to the genders of p.r.o.nouns-"He in de lonesome valley, sa."

The next gives the same dramatic conflict, while its detached and impersonal refrain gives it strikingly the character of the Scotch and Scandinavian ballads.

XIII. CRY HOLY.

"Cry holy, holy!