Uncle Stanley

My Uncle Stanley O’Neal (1885-1956) was my grandmother’s brother.

Stanley O'Neal, Philip Howard & Lawton Howard, ca. 1951

He was nearly deaf, but loved music. Uncle Stanley had a Victrola that he played so loud that everyone up and down Howard Street could hear it. Blanche remembers him playing the old tune “Cabbagehead”:

I came home last night as drunk as I could be
and saw a horse a standing where my horse ort to be.
I said, "Dear wifey, dear wifey come explain this thing to me."
She said, "You fool, you fool, you great big fool, can't you never see
that's just a milk cow your mother gave to me."

I been around this great big world a hundred times or more
but a saddle on a milk cow, I've never seen before.

I went into the house as hungry as I could be
and saw a coat a hanging where my coat ort to be.
 I said, "Dear wifey, dear wifey come explain this thing to me."
She said, "You fool, you fool, you great big fool, can't you never see
that's just a bed quilt your mother gave to me."

I been around this great big world a hundred times or more
but pockets on a bed quilt, I've never seen before.

I went to the bedroom as tired as I could be
and saw a head a laying where my head ort to be.
I said, "Dear wifey, dear wifey come explain this thing to me."
She said, "You fool, you fool, you great big fool, can't you never see
that's just a cabbagehead your mother gave to me."

I been around this great big world a hundred times or more
but a mustache on a cabbagehead, I've never seen before.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Ocracoke's Agnes Scott, direct descendant of Agnes Scott for whom the women's college in Decatur, Georgia is named. You can read the Newsletter here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news062114.htm.