Lyr. Add: Dar'll Be No Mo' Slavery
Coll. E. M. Backus, North Carolina

1.
Dar'll be no mo' sighing, no mo' sighing,
O, no mo' sighing ober me, ober me;
An' befo' I'll be a slave,
I'll be carried to my grave,
And go home to my Lord an' be free.
2.
Dar'll be no mo' crying, no mo' crying,
O no mo' crying ober me,
An' befo' I'll be a slave,
I'll be carried to my grave,
An' go home to my Lord and be free.
3.
Dar'll be no mo' weeping, no mo' weeping,
O no mo' weeping ober me, ober me,
An' befo' I'll be a slave,
I'll be carried to my grave,
An' go home to my Lord and be free.
4.
Dar'll be no mo' slavery, no mo' slavery,
O no mo' slavery ober Dar, ober Dar,
An' befo' I;ll be a slave,
I'll be carried to my grave,
An' go home to my Lord and be free.

Writing in 1894, the collector, Mrs. E. M. Backus, said, "The following cradle-song is still to be heard in the cabins of the Negroes of this state; it has the sound of a wild triumphant death chant:-" High Point, North Carolina.
Although called a cradle-song because it was sung as such, I have given the song a name based on the first line of the last verse.
The 'Before I'll be a slave' verse has not yet been found in Civil War song, but its occurrence in the 1890s strongly suggests that its origin is there.
Journal of American Folk-Lore, 1894, vol. 7, no. 27, p. 310, submitted by E. M. Backus.