Diddie, Dumps, and Tot (Plantation Child-Life) | Page 2

for no hireling can
ever be to the children what their Mammies were, and the strong tie
between the negroes and "marster's chil'en" is broken forever.
So, hoping that my book (which claims no literary merit) will serve to
amuse the little folks, and give them an insight into a childhood

peculiar to the South in her palmy days, without further preface I send
out my volume of Plantation Child-life.
LOUISE-CLARKE PYRNELLE.
COLUMBUS, GA.
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CONTENTS
I. DIDDIE, DUMPS, AND TOT II. CHRISTMAS ON THE OLD
PLANTATION III. MAMMY'S STORY IV. OLD BILLY V.
DIDDIE'S BOOK VI. UNCLE SNAKE-BIT BOB'S
SUNDAY-SCHOOL VII. POOR ANN VIII. UNCLE BOB'S
PROPOSITION IX. AUNT EDY'S STORY X. PLANTATION
GAMES XI. DIDDIE IN TROUBLE XII. HOW THE
WOODPECKER'S HEAD AND THE ROBIN'S BREAST CAME TO
BE RED XIII. A PLANTATION MEETING, AND UNCLE
DANIEL'S SERMON XIV. DIDDIE AND DUMPS GO VISITING
XV. THE FOURTH OF JULY XVI. "'STRUCK'N UV DE CHIL'EN"
XVII. WHAT BECAME OF THEM
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DIDDIE, DUMPS AND TOT
CHAPTER I
DIDDIE, DUMPS AND TOT
THEY were three little sisters, daughters of a Southern planter, and
they lived in a big white house on a cotton plantation in Mississippi.
The house stood in a grove of cedars and live-oaks, and on one side
was a flower-garden, with two summer-houses covered with climbing
roses and honey-suckles, where the little girls would often have
tea-parties in the pleasant spring and summer days. Back of the house
was a long avenue of water-oaks leading to the quarters where the
negroes lived.
Major Waldron, the father of the children, owned a large number of
slaves, and they loved him and his children very dearly. And the little
girls loved them, particularly "Mammy," who had nursed their mother,

and now had entire charge of the children; and Aunt Milly, a lame
yellow woman, who helped Mammy in the nursery; and Aunt Edy, the
head laundress, who was never too busy to amuse them. Then there was
Aunt Nancy, the "tender," who attended to the children for the
field-hands, and old Uncle Snake-bit Bob, who could scarcely walk at
all, because he had been bitten by a snake when he was a boy: so now
he had a little shop, where he made baskets of white-oak splits for the
hands to pick cotton in; and he always had a story ready for the
children, and would let them help him weave baskets whenever
Mammy would take them to the shop.
Besides these, there were Riar, Chris, and Dilsey, three little negroes,
who belonged to the little girls and played with them, and were in
training to be their maids by-and-by.
Diddie, the oldest of the children, was nine years of age, and had a
governess, Miss Carrie, who had taught her to read quite well, and even
to write a letter. She was a quiet, thoughtful little girl, well advanced
for her age, and lady-like in her manners.
Dumps, the second sister, was five, full of fun and mischief, and gave
Mammy a great deal of trouble on account of her wild tomboyish ways.
Tot, the baby, was a tiny, little blue-eyed child of three, with long light
curls, who was always amiable and sweet-tempered, and was petted by
everybody who knew her.
Now, you must not think that the little girls had been carried to the font
and baptized with such ridiculous names as Diddie, Dumps, and Tot:
these were only pet names that Mammy had given them; but they had
been called by them so long that many persons forgot that Diddie's
name was Madeleine, that Dumps had been baptized Elinor, and that
Tot bore her mother's name of Eugenia, for they were known as Diddie,
Dumps and Tot to all of their friends.
The little girls were very happy in their plantation home. 'Tis true they
lived 'way out in the country, and had no museums nor toy-shops to
visit, no fine parks to walk or ride in, nor did they have a very great

variety of toys. They had some dolls and books, and a baby-house
furnished with little beds and chairs and tables; and they had a big
Newfoundland dog, Old Bruno; and Dumps and Tot both had a little
kitten apiece; and there was "Old Billy," who once upon a time had
been a frisky little lamb, Diddie's special pet; but now he was a vicious
old sheep, who amused the children very much by running after them
whenever he could catch them out-of-doors. Sometimes, though, he
would butt them over and hurt them and Major Waldron had several
times had him turned into the pasture; but Diddie would always cry and
beg for him to be brought back and so Old Billy was nearly always in
the yard.
Then there was Corbin, the little white