1918        Burton, Natalie Curtis, rec. _Hampton Series Negro Folk-songs._ Book III. New York: Schirmer.

A cotton-stowing song from Savannah Georgia, as remembered, was recorded and reproduced in this early 20th century work. At first glance, it is exciting to see the musical transciption. However, the form and workings of this song seems like they were different from the 'chants' of Nordhoff's days. This song, which contains 'grunts' that coincide with exertions *between* singing, is more like, say, the worksongs of prisoners that Lomax recorded. Basically, they don't have a sing-along chorus. I suppose the singing style of cotton stowers changed quite a bit from the 1830s to the end of the century. It's also possibly that the style varied regionally. We've had reference to cotton stowers singing in Savannah, but not to lyrics/style.

Pg28ff
//
COTT'N-PACKIN' SONG
Recorded front the singing of 
JAMES E. SCOTT
From Georgia comes this chant of the black laborers at the docks, brought to Hampton by a young Negro, James Scott…
In old times the City of Savannah was a great place for the shipping of cotton, and the wharves hummed and rattled as the wheeled hand-trucks, heaped with cotton-bales, were whirled by running Negroes to the side of the vessels. Then a derrick from the ship let down a great hook and hoisted a bale on which knelt a Negro to balance the load. Up went the hook, while cotton and Negro moved slowly through the air; then down through the open hatch into the hold the bale was lowered, to be seized by the waiting packers and stowed away while the hook swung up and out again with the dangling Negro clinging to it. Bale after bale with its human ballast was thus lifted and dropped.
The black packers in the hold, in gangs of 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.
To the Negro, to work in unison means to sing; so as the men strained at their task, a laboring chant arose whose fine-toned phrases were regularly cut by a sharp high cry, "heh!", which emphasized the powerful twisting of the screws by the rhythmic muscular movement of the singers. Verses without number were made up, and many were the cotton-packing chants of which the one here recorded is a typical example. Though a song of such rudimentary simplicity as this—mere vocalized rhythm—is often intoned in unison without harmony, yet sometimes a singer, musically inclined, would strike in with a tenor or bass part of his own, or add a little embellishing melodic curve to the block-like crudity of the phrases…

Screw di cott'n,
heh!
Screw di cott'n,
heh!
Screw di cott'n,
heh!
Screw it tight—
heh!

Screw di cott'n,
heh!
Screw di cott'n,
heh!
Screw di cott'n,
heh!
Wid all yo' might—
Heh!

Here we come, boys,
heh!
Here we come, boys,
heh!
Here we come, boys,
heh!
Do it right—
heh!

Don't get tired,
heh!
Don't get tired,
heh!
Don't get tired,
heh!
Time ain't long—
heh!

Keep on workin'
heh!
Keep on workin'
heh!
Keep on workin'
heh!
Sing dis song—
heh!

(These last two verses are modern) 

Pay-day here, boys,
heh!
Pay-day here, boys,
heh!
Pay-day here, boys,
heh!

I hear dem say—
heh!

We'll have money,
heh!
We'll have money,
heh!
We'll have money
heh!

Dis yere day—
heh!

[Followed by musical score]
//

This is followed by a "CORN-SHUCKIN' SONG" from Virginia, which really comes from memories of Booker T. Washington (and which I will post separately). Not sure where they got the tune from, however (Washington only gave lyrics).