Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings

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Frost, A.B.: Lemme Tas'e, Daddy

Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings

work by Harris

Also known as: “Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-lore of the Old Plantation”(Show More)

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July 14, 2026

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Frost, A.B.: Lemme Tas'e, Daddy — Frost, A.B.: Lemme Tas'e, Daddy Lemme Tas'e, Daddy, illustration by A.B. Frost for Uncle Remus and His Friends (1892), by Joel Chandler Harris.

Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings is a collection of folktales published in 1880 by Joel Chandler Harris. The stories are narrated by Uncle Remus, a wise, elderly Black man on a plantation, who tells tales to the plantation owner's son. These stories primarily feature animal characters, most notably Brer Rabbit, who uses his wit to outsmart stronger adversaries like Brer Fox and Brer Bear.123

The tales originate from African folklore, brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans, and evolved into African American folktales. Brer Rabbit, a trickster figure, embodies the idea that a clever, weaker individual can overcome a more powerful, less intelligent one. Harris's work popularized this distinct style of dialect literature and introduced these stories to a wider audience.321

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Georgia
Cultural life
…American trickster tales (collected as Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings [1880]) that have remained a vital part of American folkloric tradition.
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…American trickster tales (collected as Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings [1880]) that have remained a vital part of American folkloric tradition.
Read More

Joel Chandler Harris
Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings was published in book form in 1880, followed by others. Included in a series of children’s books were: Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer Country (1894), The Story of Aaron (1896), and Aaron in the Wildwoods (1897). Mingo,…
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Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings was published in book form in 1880, followed by others. Included in a series of children’s books were: Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer Country (1894), The Story of Aaron (1896), and Aaron in the Wildwoods (1897). Mingo,…
Read More

African American folktale
Folktales in print
Joel Chandler Harris published Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-lore of the Old Plantation (1880). Harris’s popular book both preserved a significant collection of oral tales—though, like so many narratives of that era, its use of dialect is painful to the modern reader—and introduced many Euro-Americans…
Read More
Joel Chandler Harris published Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-lore of the Old Plantation (1880). Harris’s popular book both preserved a significant collection of oral tales—though, like so many narratives of that era, its use of dialect is painful to the modern reader—and introduced many Euro-Americans…
Read More

beast epic
… (1687), and Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (1880) derived many episodes from beast tales carried to the United States by African slaves. Animal Farm (1945), an antiutopian satire by George Orwell, is a modern adaptation of the beast tale.
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… (1687), and Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (1880) derived many episodes from beast tales carried to the United States by African slaves. Animal Farm (1945), an antiutopian satire by George Orwell, is a modern adaptation of the beast tale.
Read More