I wondered about that, too, Lighter. Speaking of Roger Abrahams, I am currently reading another of his books entitled SINGING THE MASTER, THE EMERGENCE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE IN THE PLANTATION SOUTH (1992). I've found a couple of references to this book on Mudcat, but not necessarily with regard to its primary focus, which is the "corn-shucking ceremony." Since this ceremony has come up in our discussions here a number of times in relationship to work songs that may be related to chanties or precursors to them, I thought this might be of interest. The book is well written and gives a lot of background on the Southern Plantation system and culture and also on the ways of interaction between master and slave. Abrahams is particularly concerned with how the two groups perceive each other and how the "entertain" each other.