Juggin Straw Blue

David Roach, Lacovia.

There was a woman have a daughter and a neice, and the neice was courting by one Juggin Straw Blue. She love the daughter more than she love the neice and always want the neice to do more work than what the daughter do. Well, the lady send the neice to a river one day with a big tub to bring water in it. The girl went to the river and get the tub fill and she couldn’t help it up. An Old Witch man was by the river-side, and he help her up and tol’ her not to tell nobody who help her up with the water. But when she went home, the aunt pumped her to know who help her up and she told her. Therefore the aunt know that the Old Witch man will come for her in the night, and she lock her up into an iron chest. Part of the night, the Old Witch man comes in search of the girl. So the girl was crying into the iron chest and the tears went through the keyhole and he wiped it and licked it and says, “After the fat is so sweet, what says the flesh!” And he burst the door open and take her out.

And the Old Witch man travel with the girl and he have a knock knee and the sound of his knee was like a music,—

Na koo-ma no year-ie de knee bang cri’ bang cri’ bang.

And the Old Witch man says to her, “Your head and your lights is for my dog, and your liver is for my supper!” So the girl started a song,—

Why, why, why, my Jug-gin Straw Blue, No Mam-my don’ know, No Dad-dy don’ know, This rot-ten stuff, this stink-in’ stuff, then car-ry me down to gul-ly True Blue, you’ll see me no more.

So as this girl was courting by Juggin Straw Blue, his mother was an Old Witch too. And the courtyer’s mother waked him up and gave him eight eggs; for the Old Witch man has seven heads and seven eggs, and each egg is for one of the Old Witch head. Well, the boy went after the Old Witch man and overtake him and mash one of the egg, and day light. And he cut off one of the head. An’ the Old Witch man mash one of his egg and night came back. An’ the boy mash the next one of his, and day light again; an’ the Old Witch man mash one of his egg and night come back again. And so they went on that way until the boy mash seven egg and cut off the Old Witch seven heads and take away his girl. And he went home with his girl and marry.