Lyr. Add: COTT'N-PACKIN' SONG

Screw dis cott'n, heh!
Screw dis cott'n, heh!
Screw dis cott'n, heh!
Screw it tight- heh!

Screw dis cott'n, heh! (3x)
Wid all yo' might- heh!

Here we come, boys, heh! (3x)
Do it right- heh!

Don't get tired*, heh! (3x)
Time ain't long- heh!
*two syllables, 'ti-yerd' or 'ti-ohn'

Keep on workin', heh! (3x)
Sing dis song- heh!

Pay-day here, boys, heh! (3x)
I hear dem say- heh!

We'll have money, heh! (3x)
Dis your day- heh!

"The 'heh' is a sharp...ejaculation, accompanying the rhythmic turning of the screw in packing cotton."

"Last two verses are modern."

From coastal Georgia, Savannah, brought to Hampton by James Scott.

"The black packers in the hold, in gangs from five to ten men, stowed the cotton by means of iron "screws" which squeezed the bales tightly and compactly into the smallest possible space. Each gang was directed by a "header" or head-man, for the labor required precision and skill as well as strength."

Natalie Curtis-Burlin, 1918-1919, "Negro Folk-Songs," The Hampton Series. Book 4. Dover unabridged republication, 2001, pp. 108-110, with musical score.