You heared whut I said.

" '"Pears ter me I heared somebody say sence I be'n up heah, dat it

It 's one er de beatenis' things I ever heared.

You don' tell me dat after all dese long w'ary years er waitin' de good Lawd is done heared yo' prayer an' is gwine ter sen' you

I ever seed er heared of!

Heard is pronounced h~erd by all our lexicographers, except Webster: who formerly wrote it heerd, and still pronounces it so; alleging, in despite of universal usage against him, that it is written "more correctly heared.

Such pronunciation would doubtless require this last orthography, "heared;" but both are, in fact, about as fanciful as his former mode of spelling, which ran thus: "Az I had heerd suggested by frends or indifferent reeders.

She 'membered she 'd heared one er de niggers say dey wuz a gal ober at Mars' Marrabo Utley's plantation w'at

En now I reckon you en Jeff bofe knows w'at it means ter mess wid a nigger lack me.' "Po' Chloe had n' heared mo' d'n half er de las' part er w'at

Hannibal said, but she had heared 'nuff to l'arn dat dis nigger had fooled her en Jeff, en dat po' Jeff had n' done nuffin, en dat fer lovin' her too much en goin' ter meet her she had cause' 'im ter be sol' erway whar

"Well, atter Chloe heared dis, she wa'n't much mo' use ter nobody.

Ole Marse heared 'bout it en' ferbid his gwine in swimmin' enny mo', fer he said he couldn't 'ford ter lose 'im.

But w'en de time roll' on en' she didn' heared nothin' 'bout gwine back,

W'ite folks doan' b'lieve in sich things, fer I heared 'em say so; but yer can't 'spec' nothin' better fum fiel'-han's.' "Dey wuz one man on de plantation, one er dese yer dandy niggers w'at 'uz alluz runnin' atter de wimmen folks, dat got ter pest'rin' Cindy.

w'at ter do, an' he stood dere in de road 'til he heared somebody e'se comin', w'en he dahted in de woods ag'in.

but he 'lowed maybe she'd heared he wuz dead er sump'n,' an' thought he wuz a ha'nt,

'Peared lak he'd heared dat voice befo.'

'im yaller w'en he heared sump'n say jes' ez plain ez wo'ds.

An' w'en he turnt roun' an' sta'ted back in de woods, he heared de same thing behin' 'im. "'Turnt ter clay!

"One Sunday we was going to a big meetin' we heared som'in rattling in the weeds.

I jes laughed at him en dat night I en my boy wese goes ter de pond en as we war er standing in dar quiet like we heared something squeeching like er new saddle en er horses er trotting.

"I'se heared him say many time don't youse niggers whoop dese mules.

but I sho had heared de doors slam en de silver rattle en at night in my cabin near to hit I'd sees lights bob up en down.

"I'se a Publican who ever heared of a Democrat nigger.

[TR: Riviana in text] Salena Taswell DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOLKLORE Annie Trip Millie Sampson Annie Gail Jessie Rowell Margaret White Priscilla Mitchell Fannie McCay Hattie Thomas David Lee FOLK STUFF, FLORIDA Jules A. Frost Tampa, Florida October 20, 1937 JOSEPHINE ANDERSON HANTS "I kaint tell nothin bout slavery times cept what I heared folks talk about.