Is there any way to verify the story that this song was composed by a slave woman? All the sites I've checked on this song state this, but if true, why can no one turn up the name of this anonymous woman, or the date when she created the song, or the place where she lived and worked? It's always 'a slave woman" or "this song was sung by slaves". Are there any oral accounts from slaves- many of them would mention songs that were sung- that mention this song? The only citation I've found for the slave connection to this song is (Lacy:1982).