Need help with Southern dialect (American)

[justcarol67]

"Donna" <donnawonna at ...> wrote:
>
> I'm from the southeastern corner of Kentucky (Harlan County) and have always heard the word "done" used in place of have/had.  ("I done made the bed."  
> I done fixed supper."  "I done done/did it.".
> 
> Donna

Carol responds:

Harlan County? Have you seen the movie "Harlan County War," where Ted Levine ("Monk," "Silence of the Lambs," etc.) dances a jig with a cigarette in one hand and a Mason jar of "shine" in the other? That's one of my favorite films, partly because he does such a good job playing his unemployed coal miner character. (Holly Hunter is also good as his wife.)

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. I done decided how I'm a-gonna handle it. It don't really make nobody no never mind 'cause the whole thing done been made up. (I just wanted to make the dialect consistent and the use of "don't" for "have/had" consistent.)

Just one more question: Should I use "don't" alone for "have/has" and "had done" for "had," or just "done" for any and all of them?

Carol, who really likes this particular editing project despite the silly premise and the difficulties posed by the narrator's dialect