1907 edition of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians on Pompey Ran Away:

It has the incessant repetition of phrase found in so many negro airs. As to the African origin of these tunes many theories have been offered, from the belief in their practical genuineness as real native strains, down to the contemptuous attitude of some who take them to have been manufactured in deliberate imitation of European models, by ignorant musicians for the enjoyment of their fellow-slaves. The truth is probably to be found somewhere between these two extremes. We may admit at once that the rhythmic peculiarities noticed above are to be traced to the original home of the African slave; as all students of primitive music know, distinct rhythms are among the most marked characteristics of savage music.