Jamaican Song and Story Part 62

Me go da Galloway road, Gal an' boy them a broke rock stone, Broke them one by one gal an' boy, Broke them two by two gal an' boy, Take up the one that you like gal an' boy, Ah! this here one me like gal an' boy, broke them t'row them down gal an' boy.]

I go to Galloway road (where there is a quarry). Girls and boys are breaking stones. They break them one by one. They break them two by two, etc. Choosing stones suggests choosing partners.

XCIX.

We come across "dude" again in:--

[Music:

Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel let go Mister Porter son, Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel c.o.c.k c.o.c.k crow da yard, Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel let go Mister Porter son, Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel oh why oh Rosybel wheel him doodjes' now, Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel c.o.c.k c.o.c.k crow you no know, Rosybel oh why oh!

Rosybel wheel him let him go, Rosybel oh why oh!]

C.

The play in the next is rough, and the holders of hands in the ring must have strong wrists.

[Music:

Me da l l l, me da l l l, Bull a pen ho! gingerly!

the bull a broke pen! gingerly!

A Mount Siney bull! gingerly!

A Galloway bull! gingerly!

bull a broke pen! gingerly!]

Two strong young fellows personate the bulls. One is inside the ring and the other outside. They paw the ground and moo at each other but must not fight unless they can break the ring. When the ring is broken at last by a determined rush, one of the bulls is sometimes seized with panic and jumps back into the pen (ring) where he is safe. The fight, if it does take place, is not a very serious affair, the cowmen soon coming up with their ropes (handkerchiefs) which they throw over the bulls' heads and so draw them apart.[53]

[Footnote 53: [Cf. "Bull in the Park," Gomme, _Traditional Games_, vol. i. p. 50.]]

(_Me da d_ would mean Me is there, I am there. L is subst.i.tuted for euphony, being probably suggested by the last syllable of "gingerly.")

CI.

Another rough game is:--

[Music:

Two man a road, Cromanty boy, Two man a road, fight for you lady!

Two man a road, down town picny, Two man a road, fight for you lady!

Two man a road, Cromanty win oh!

Two man a road, Cromanty win.]

A line of girls stretches along each side of the road and in front of them stand the two combatants armed with sticks. One is a Coromanti (one of the African tribes) and the other a Kingston or down-town boy.

"Fight for your ladies" cry the respective lines to their champions.

Whoever can disable the other and s.n.a.t.c.h one of his girls across the road is the winner. A mock doctor comes to bind up the wounds.

CII.

"Adina Mona," with its Italian-sounding words, is noisy, but not so rough:--

[Music:

Ho! Adina Mona, Adina Mona, cutchy fe gran'ma; Adina Mona, Me tell Nana marnin'.

Adina Mona, Nana no want it; Adina Mona, Me beg Nana wahter; Adina Mona, Him give me dirty wahter, Adina Mona.]

Here they stand face to face in separate couples. At the beginning of one bar the boys knock their hands upon their thighs, and at the beginning of the next bar clap them against those of their partners, as in the first motion of the game of Clip-clap. As they do this the boys walk backwards, occasionally wheeling, and making, as they say, "all manner of flourish."

CIII.

"Palmer" affords an opportunity for individual display:--

[Music:

Palmer, you just from town, Palmer, oh William Palmer!

Palmer, you just from town, Palmer, oh William Palmer!

Show me the figure wh you bring, Palmer, oh William Palmer!

Dat d no style at ahl, Palmer, oh William Palmer!

Palmer, you just from town, Palmer, oh William Palmer!

Put on de style now more, Palmer, oh William Palmer!]

Palmer has just come back to his mountain home from Kingston, and is urged to show the latest step for a quadrille figure or other dance.

His companions affect surprise. What! is that all? Oh, Palmer, that's not style!