Chapter VII: Part I: Annancy Stories (1)

When the hoes stop clicking and you hear peals of laughter from the field, you may know that somebody is telling an Annancy story. If you go out, you will find a group of Negroes round the narrator, punctuating all the good points with delighted chuckles. Their sunny faces are beaming, and at the recital of any special piece of knavery on Annancy's part ordinary means of expression fail, and they fling themselves on the ground and wriggle in convulsions of merriment.

Annancy is a legendary being whose chief characteristic is trickery. A strong and good workman, he is invariably lazy, and is only to be tempted to honest labour by the offer of a large reward. He prefers to fill the bag which he always carries, by fraud or theft. His appetite is voracious, and nothing comes amiss to him, cooked or raw. No sooner is one gluttonous feast over than he is ready for another, and endless are his shifts and devices to supply himself with food. Sometimes he will thrust himself upon an unwilling neighbour, and eat up all his breakfast. At another time he carries out his bag and brings it home full of flesh or fish obtained by thieving. He is perfectly selfish, and knows no remorse for his many deeds of violence, treachery and cruelty. His only redeeming point is a sort of hail-fellow-well-met-ness, which appeals so much to his associates that they are ready almost, if not quite, to condone his offences.

Annancy has a defect of speech owing to a cleft palate, and pronounces his words badly. He speaks somewhat like Punch, through his nose very rapidly, and uses the most countrified form of dialect. He cannot say "brother," and has to leave out the _th_ owing to the failure of the tongue to meet the palate, so he says "bro'er." He even pretends he cannot say "puss," and turns it into "push." Strings of little words he delights in, such as, in the Brother Death story, the often-repeated "no mo so me no yerry," an expressive phrase difficult to render into good English. It means "I must have failed to hear." The words are "no more so me no hear," equivalent to "it must be so (that) I (do) not hear," the "no more" having something of the force of the same words in the colloquial phrases, "no more I do," "no more I will." When, for instance, to the remark, "I thought you didn't like the smell of paint," we make the rejoinder "no more I do," Priscian strives in vain to disentangle the words and reduce them to rule of syntax, but they mean "Well! I do not." Thus "no more me hear" would be "Well! I do not hear." The "so" introduces the hypothetical element and the "no" before "yerry" is a reduplicated negative.

Thus far for the sense. Now for the pronunciation. The accent indicates where the stress of the voice falls, and unless the accent is caught, the phrase will not run off the tongue. This is how it goes:

n[)o] m[)o] | s[=o] m[)e] n[)o] | yerry.

As an illustration of the necessity of right placing of the accent, take the name of that town in Madagascar, which we so often saw in our papers a few years ago, Antananarivo. Most of us just nodded our heads at it, but never tried, or at least only feebly, to articulate it. With all this "an an" it was the same sort of hopeless business as the deciphering of the hieroglyphics of those writers whose words seem to be composed of nothing but _m_'s. And yet how simple, and easy to say, the word is when we catch the accent. First "an"; then stop a little; "tanana," same values as traveller; and finally "rivo." French sounds for the vowels of course, An-tananarivo. This grouping of accents is that which in music is known as rhythm. Rightly grouped they make musical sense, wrongly grouped--and alas! how often we hear it--musical nonsense. See the stuttering hopelessness and helplessness of an-tan-an-a--there might be any number more of "an-an"s to follow, and compare with this the neat satisfying form Antananarivo. So let no bungler read in the story of Brother Death "no mo so me no yerry" with halting and panting, but let him reel off as quickly as he can "no mo so me no yerry" with just the accent that he would use in this phrase:--"It is here that I want you." Remember, too, that the _o_'s have the open sound of Italian, and not the close sound of English. So is exactly like _sol_ (the musical note) with the _l_ left out, and not as we pronounce it. And above all, speed.

When the stranger lands in Jamaica and hears the rapid rush of words, and the soft, open vowels, he often says: "Why, I thought they talked English here, but it sounds like Spanish or Italian!" The difficulty in understanding a new language lies in the inability to distinguish the point where one word ends and the next begins. The old puzzle sentence, _Caille a haut nid, taupe a bas nid_, shows this very well. The ear catches the sound but fails to differentiate the words, and, their real identity being disguised, the listener has a sort of impression of modern Greek or Italian, writing these fragments in his brain _oni_, _bani_.

Just as hopeless is negro English to the newcomer, and the first thing to do is to set about learning it. And well it repays investigation. It is the boast of the English language that it has got rid of so much superfluous grammatical matter in the way of genders, inflections and such-like perplexities. True, it has abolished much that was evil, and enables us to speak and write shortly and to the point. But negro English goes a step further, and its form is still more concise. Compare these expressions:

NEGRO. ENGLISH.

Corn the horse. Give the horse some corn.
Care the child. Take care of the child.
Him wife turn fire. His wife became a shrew.
You middle hand. The middle of your hand.
My bottom foot. The bottom of my foot.
Out the lamp. Put out the lamp.
The boy too trick. The boy is very tricky.
I did him nothing. I did not provoke him.
See the 'tar up a 'ky. Look at the star up in the sky.
No make him get 'way. Do not let him get away.
Me go buy. I am going to buy.
A door. Out of doors.
Short-mout'ed. Quick at repartee.
Bull a broke pen. The bull has broken out of the pen.
Bell a ring a yard. The bell is ringing in the yard.
Same place him patch. In the place where it was patched.
To warm fire. To warm oneself by the fire.
You no give. If you do not give.
Bring come. Bring it here.
A bush. In the bush.[38]

[Footnote 38: These idioms are very similar to those of Cape Dutch, especially as spoken by the coloured people, and may help to illustrate its development. Cf. _Jy is te skellum_,--_ek gaan_ (or better, _Corp_) korp, etc. "To warm fire" reminds one of the Bantu _Ku ot a moto_, of which it is almost a literal translation. (A.W.)]

These are a few typical sentences out of a host which might be cited to show the neat, short turn they take in the mouth of the Jamaica Negro.

The rapidity of utterance natural to all the Blacks is exaggerated by Annancy. He generally affects, too, a falsetto tone as in "Play up the music, play up the music," in Yung-kyum-pyung. He has a metamorphic shape, that of the Spider. At one moment he is a man "tiefing (thieving) cow," the next he is running upon his rope (web).

As he is the chief personage in most of the stories in this book, it is well to have a perfectly clear idea of the pronunciation of his name. Unnahncy does not represent it badly, but the first letter has actually the sound of short French _a_ as in _la_. The accent falls strongly on the middle syllable. In "Tacoma" all the syllables are very short. The first has the sound of French _ta_, and takes the accent; _co_ is something between English _cook_ and Italian _con_, and it is impossible to determine whether to write the vowel _o_ or _u_; _ma_ again as in French. The exact relation in which Tacoma stands to Annancy is obscure. In one case he is described as Annancy's son, but, according to most of the stories, he appears to be an independent neighbour.

The stories are obviously derived from various sources, the most primitive being no doubt those which are concerned only, or chiefly, with animals. These may be of African origin, but we should have expected to find the Elephant and not the Tiger. I have a suspicion that Tiger was originally Lion, and that he is the Ogre of Jack the Giant-killer, and other fairy stories brought to Jamaica from England. Ogre would easily be corrupted to Tiger, and with the information, which might have been acquired at the same time, that Tiger was a fierce animal which ate men, his name would find its way into stories repeated from mouth to mouth. This is, however, pure conjecture. How much the stories vary may be seen from the two versions of Ali Baba, in one of which the point is so entirely lost that the door is not kept shut upon the intruder.

The tunes are in the same case as the stories. What I take to be certainly primitive about them is the little short refrains, like "Carry him go 'long" (Dry Bone) and "Commando" (Annancy and Hog). These suggest tapping on a drum. Again, the same influence that has produced the American Plantation Songs is occasionally visible, as in "Some a we da go to Mount Siney" (Annancy in Crab Country). This kind of patter is just what the Negro likes. Some of the tunes are evidently popular songs of the day, as, for instance, the vulgar "Somebody waiting for Salizon" (Snake the Postman). But others are a puzzle, showing as they do a high order of melodic instinct. Such are the melodies in "The Three Sisters" and "Leah," and the digging-tunes, "Oh, Samuel, Oh!" and "Three Acres of Coffee." These digging-tunes are very pleasant to hear, and the singers are quick at improvising parts. They are an appropriate accompaniment to the joyous labour of this sunny, happy land.

One more word with regard to the tunes. They gain a peculiar and almost indescribable lilt from a peculiarity in the time-organisation of the Negro. If you ask him to beat the time with his foot, he does it perfectly regularly, but just where the white man does not do it. We beat _with_ the time; he beats _against_ it. To make my meaning quite plain, take common measure. His first beat in the bar will be exactly midway between our first and second beats. The effect of this peculiarity in their singing is, that there is commonly a feeling of syncopation about it. The Americans call it "rag-time."

The men's voices are of extraordinary beauty. To hear a group chatting is a pure pleasure to the ear, quite irrespective of the funny things they say; and their remarks are accompanied with the prettiest little twirks and turns of intonation, sometimes on the words, sometimes mere vocal ejaculations between them. The women's voices have the same fine quality when they speak low, but this they seldom do, and their usual vivacious chatter is anything but melodious.

I. ANNANCY AND BROTHER TIGER.

One day Annancy an' Bro'er Tiger go a river fe wash'kin. Annancy said to Bro'er Tiger:--"Bro'er Tiger, as you are such a big man, if you go in a de blue hole with your fat you a go drownded, so you fe take out your fat so lef' it here."

Tiger said to Bro'er Annancy:--"You must take out fe you too."

Annancy say:--"You take out first, an' me me take out after."

Tiger first take out.

Annancy say:--"Go in a hole, Bro'er Tiger, an' make me see how you swim light."

Bro'er Annancy never go in.

As Tiger was paying attention to the swimming, Annancy take up his fat an' eat it.

Then Annancy was so frightened for Tiger, he leaves the river side an' go to Big Monkey town.

Him say:--"Bro'er Monkey, I hear them shing a shing a river side say:--

[Music:

"Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat,
Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat,
Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat,
Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat."]

The Big Monkey drive him away, say they don't want to hear no song.

So him leave and go to Little Monkey town, an' when him go him said:--

"Bro'er Monkey, I hear one shweet song a river side say:--

"Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat.
Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat."

Then Monkey say:--"You must sing the song, make we hear."

Then Annancy commence to sing.

Monkey love the song so much that they made a ball a night an' have the same song playing.

So when Annancy hear the song was playing, he was glad to go back to Bro'er Tiger.

When him go to the river, he saw Tiger was looking for his fat.

Tiger said:--"Bro'er Annancy, I can't find me fat at all."

Annancy say:--"Ha ha! Biddybye I hear them shing a Little Monkey town say:--

"Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat.
Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat.

"Bro'er Tiger, if you think I lie, come make we go a Little Monkey town."

So he and Tiger wented.

When them get to the place, Annancy tell Tiger they must hide in a bush.

Then the Monkey was dancing an' playing the same tune.

Tiger hear.

Then Annancy say:--"Bro'er Tiger wha' me tell you? You no yerry me tell you say them a call you name up ya?"

An' the Monkey never cease with the tune:--

Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat.
Yeshterday this time me a nyam Tiger fat.

Then Tiger go in the ball an' ask Monkey them for his fat.

The Monkey say they don't know nothing name so, 'tis Mr. Annancy l'arn them the song.

So Tiger could manage the Little Monkey them, an' he want fe fight them.

So the Little Monkey send away a bearer to Big Monkey town, an' bring down a lots of soldiers, an' flog Bro'er Tiger an' Annancy.

So Bro'er Tiger have fe take bush an' Annancy run up a house-top.

From that, Tiger live in the wood until now, an' Annancy in the house-top.

_Jack Mantora me no choose any._

NOTES.

=Go a river fe wash 'kin=, go to the river to wash their skins. Pronounce =fe= like =fit= without the =t=.

=in a de=, into the.

=A go drownded=, will be drowned.

=fe take=, short for =must have fe take=, must take.

=so lef'=, and leave.

=fe you=, for you, yours.

=me me=, I will. Annancy is fond of these reduplications.

=in a hole=, in the hole.

=make me see=, let me see. =Make= and =let= are always confused.

=frighten=, frightened. Past participles are seldom used.

=take=, =eat=, =leave=, =go=, takes, eats, leaves, goes. This shortening is always adopted. If a final =s= is used, it is generally in the wrong place.

=shing a shing=, sing a song. Annancy's lisp will not always be printed, but in reading, it should be put in even when not indicated.

=a river side=, at the river's side. The =v= is pronounced more like a =b=, and the =i= in =river= has the sound of French =u=.

=me a nyam=, I was eating, I ate. =Nyam= is one of the few African words which survive in Jamaica.

=make we hear=, and let us hear it.

=have the same song playing=; the past participle again avoided, and its place supplied by the present participle. Song and tune are interchangeable terms, and, even when there is no singing, the fiddle speaks words to those who are privileged to hear; see "Doba" and other stories.

=Biddybye=, by the bye.

=a Little Monkey town=, in Little Monkey town. So already in this story we have had _a_ standing for =to=, =in=, =the=, =at=, =will=, besides being interjected, as in =me a nyam= and elsewhere.

=make we go=, let us go.

=in a bush=, in the bush, in the jungle.

=dancing an' playing.= No mention of singing, observe.

=a wha' me tell you, etc.= What did I tell you? Did you not hear me tell you they were talking about you up here? A good phrase to illustrate the use of the interjected =say=.

=Call you name=, mention your name.

=Monkey them=; another common addition.

=nothing name so=, nothing called so.

=a bearer.= Bearers are important people in the Jamaica hills where post-offices are few. They often bear nothing but a letter, though some carry loads too.

=Jack Mantora, etc.= All Annancy stories end with these or similar words. The Jack is a member of the company to whom the story is told, perhaps its principal member; and the narrator addresses him, and says: "I do not pick you out, Jack, or any of your companions, to be flogged as Tiger and Annancy were by the monkeys." Among the African tribes stories we know are often told with an object. The Negro is quick to seize a parable, and the point of a cunningly constructed story directed at an individual obnoxious to the reciter would not miss. So when the stories were merely told for diversion, it may have been thought good manners to say: "This story of mine is not aimed at any one."

II. YUNG-KYUM-PYUNG.

A King had t'ree daughter, but nobody in the world know their name. All the learned man from all part of the eart' come to guess them name, an' no one could'n guess them.

Brother Annancy hear of it an' say:--"Me me I mus' have fe fin' them ya-ya gal name. Not a man can do it abbly no me."

So one day the King t'ree gal gone out to bathe, an' Brother Annancy make a pretty basket, an' put it in a the house where he knew they was going to come fe eat them vittle.

He leave it there, an' go under the house fe hear the name.

When them come, them see the basket, an' it was the prettiest something they ever see in their life.

Then the biggest one cry out:--

Yung-kyum-pyung! What a pretty basket!
Marg'ret-Powell-Alone! What a pretty basket!

And the next one say:--

Margaret-Powell-Alone! What a pretty basket!
Eggie-Law! What a pretty basket!

And the youngest bahl:--

Eggie-Law! What a pretty basket, eh?
Yung-kyum-pyung! What a pretty basket, eh?

Brother Annancy hear it all good, an' he glad so till him fly out a the house an' gone.

Him go an' make up a band of music with fiddle an' drum, an' give the musicians them a tune to sing the names to.

An' after a week him come back.

When him get where the King could yerry, him give out:--"Play up the music, play up the music."

So they play an' sing:--

[Music:

Yung-kyum-pyung
Eggie-Law
Marg'ret-Powell-Alone.]

After six times sing the Queen yerry.

She say:--"Who is that calling my daughter name?"

Annancy tell them fe play all the better.

Then the Queen massoo himself from up'tairs, an' t'row down broke him neck.

Dat time de King no yerry, so Annancy harder to play de music still.

At last the King yerry, an' him say:--"Who is dat, calling me daughter name?"

Annancy let them sing the tune over and over:--

[Music:

Yung-kyum-pyung
Eggie-Law
Marg'ret-Powell-Alone.]

An' the King t'row himself off a him t'rone an' lie there 'tiff dead.

Then Annancy go up an' take the t'rone, an' marry the youngest daughter an' a reign.

Annancy is the wickedest King ever reign. Sometime him dere, sometime him gone run 'pon him rope an tief cow fe him wife.

_Jack Mantora me no choose none._

NOTES.

=Me, me I mus' have, etc.=, I will find out those girls' names. Anybody else would have said:--"Me mus' have fe find them ya (those here) gal name," but Annancy likes to add a few more syllables. His speech is =Bungo talk=. The Jamaican looks down on the Bungo (rhymes with Mungo) who "no 'peak good English."

=abbly no me=, except me.

=go under the house.= It is no absurdity to the narrator's mind to picture the King's house on the pattern of his own. This is a two-roomed hut, consisting of the hall or dining-room and a bedroom. It is floored with inch-thick cedar boards roughly cut and planed, so that they never lie very close. An air space is left underneath, and anybody who creeps under the hut can hear all that goes on above.

=bahl=, bawl.

=hear it all good=, hears everything perfectly.

=Play up the music.= He almost sings, like this:--

[Music:

Play up the music.]

=all the better=, all the harder.

=massoo himself=, lifts herself up. "Massoo" is an African word. The hall seems to have a sort of gallery.

=t'row down, etc.=, throws herself down and breaks her neck. They always say =to broke=.

=Dat time de King.= The turning of =th= into a =d= or nearly a =d= is characteristic of negro speech. To avoid the tiresomeness of dialect-printing, and for another reason to be mentioned by and by, this is not always indicated. The change is introduced occasionally to remind readers of the right pronunciation.

=let them sing=, makes them sing.

=Sometime him dare=, sometimes he is there (at home), sometimes he goes and runs upon his web and steals cows for his wife. Other stories will show Annancy's partiality for beef, or indeed anything eatable.

=tief=, thieve.

Spiders' webs of any kind are called =Annancy ropes=.

III. KING DANIEL.

There was two young lady name Miss Wenchy an' Miss Lumpy. The King Daniel was courtening to Miss Wenchy, an' the day when they was to get marry Miss Lumpy carry Miss Wenchy an' show him a flowers in the pond. Miss Wenchy go to pick it, an' Miss Lumpy shub him in the pond.

An' she said:--"T'ank God! nobody see me."

Now a Parrot sat up on a tree, an' jes' as Miss Lumpy say "T'ank God! nobody see me" the Parrot say:--"I see you dough!"

Then Miss Lumpy said to the Parrot:--"Do, my pretty Polly, don't you tell, an' I'll give you a silver door an' a golden cage."

And the Parrot sing:--

[Music:

No, No, I don't want it,
for the same you serve another one you will serve me the same.]

"Oh do, my pretty Polly, don't you tell, an' I'll give you a silver door an' a golden cage."

But the Parrot wouldn' stay, and he fly from houses to houses singing this tune:--

[Music:

I brought, I brought a news to the young King Daniel;
Miss Lumpy kill Miss Wenchy loss,
on becount of young King Daniel.]

At last the Parrot got to the table where the young King Daniel was.

An' Miss Lumpy was into a room crying. Many pocket-handkerchief she got wet with tears. An' the Parrot sing the same song:--"I brought, I brought a news to the young King Daniel; Miss Lumpy kill Miss Wenchy loss on becount of young King Daniel."

Then Miss Lumpy call out:--"Oh drive away that nasty bird, for Miss Wenchy head hurting her."

But King Daniel wouldn' have it so, but said:--"I heard my name call. I would like to know what is it."

An' the Parrot fly near upon the King's shoulder an' tell him what become of Miss Wenchy. An' they go an' look in the room an' find her not.

An' pretty Polly take them to the pond an' show them where Miss Wenchy is, an' she was drown.

Then the King call Miss Lumpy an' head him up into a barrel an' fasten it up with tenpenny nails, an' carry him up to a high hill an' let him go down the gully, an' he drop in the gully pom-galong.

An' the Parrot laugh Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

_Jack Mantora me no choose none._

NOTES.

=I see you dough.= The first three words are pitched high and the voice falls as low as possible on the =dough= and dwells upon it.

=Do, my pretty Polly, etc.= I have heard this story many times, and these words never vary. Obviously it was once a silver cage with a golden door.[39]

[Footnote 39: The well-known and lately-current ballad of _May Colvin_, in which this incident occurs (though it is the false lover, not the sister, who is murdered), has a cage of gold with an ivory door. (C.S.B.)]

=I brought=; brought for bring, as we had =broke= for break.

=loss.= It is doubtful what this word represents. It may be loss or lost. Observe =be=count.

=I would like to know what is it=, I should like to know what it is, what the matter is. The perverse misplacing of these words strikes a newcomer to the island. In questions they misplace them again and say "What it is?"

=find her not.= The =not= has a heavy accent.

=gully=, precipice.

=pom-galong= imitates the sound of the barrel as it goes bumping down. The =o='s have the Italian sound.

IV. TOMBY.

One day there was a gal, an' Annancy really want that gal fe marry, but he couldn' catch him. An' Annancy ask a old-witch man--the name of him was Tomby--an' the old-witch man had a 'mash-up side, an' him was the only man could gotten the gal for Annancy. An' Annancy give the old-witch man a t'reepence to give the gal when him goin' to the market to buy a t'reepence of youricky-yourk. An' the gal take the t'reepence. An' as she walk along the pass to market she meet up one of her friend call Miss Princess Johnson an' she said:--"Good mornin' me love," an' the answer:--"How you do, me dear? Where you a come from now?"

An Miss Justina say:--"Me a come from Tomby yard, an' see de t'reepence he give me fe go buy youricky-yourk."

"Never you bodder with somet'ing 'tan' so. Gi' ahm back him fuppence because him goin' to turn trouble fe you."

"How I manage fe gi' him the fuppence?"

"When you go to the market come back tell him you no see no youricky-yourk."

"An' what you go go buy, Miss Princess?"

"Me go buy me little salt fish an' me little hafoo yam, t'reepence a red peas fe make me soup, quatty 'kellion, gill a garlic to put with me little nick-snack, quatty ripe banana, bit fe Gungo peas, an' me see if me can get quatty beef bone."

"Ah! me missis, Cocoanut cheap a market ya."

"Yes, me love, make me buy sixpence."

An' as they talking they get to market. They buy what they want an' turn back, an' when they reach up Princess yard they tell goodbye an' Justina call in to Tomby.

An' Justina bring back the t'reepence an' sing:--

[Music:

Me go to market, me look, Tomby;
look oh! me look, Tomby, look oh!
me look, Tomby, see no youricky-yourk;
Me went to Lingo Starban, 'cornful day,
me went to Lingo Starban, 'cornful day,
me went to Lingo Starban, 'cornful day.]

An' Tomby very vex as, being a old witch, he knew all what the gal do already. An' he answer:--

[Music:

Hm hm! hm hm! me have me mash-up side gee oh!
a him make you say
Tatalingo ya you bit oh!
'cornful day.]

An' he won't take the t'reepence. Now the rule is that anybody take something from old-witch an' can't give it back, it give him power to catch him. An' so comes it that Tomby catch Justina an' send for Mr. Annancy an' make him a present to be a wife. His name was Miss Sinclair, but she becomes now Mrs. Annancy Sinclair.

_Jack Mantora me no choose none._

NOTES.

=Old-witch=, a person of either sex possessed of supernatural powers, not necessarily old in years, as will be seen in other stories. The name "white witch" applied to men is familiar to dwellers in the West of England.

='mash-up=, smashed up, wounded, lacerated.

=youricky-yourk=, a nonsense word for some kind of plaster.

=pass=, path.

=Miss Princess.= Prince and Princess are common names for boys and girls.

=good mornin'.= This broad =o= is always pronounced =ah=.

=yard=, a house with its immediate surroundings.

=Never you bodder=, don't you bother with something which stands so, with that sort of commission.

=ahm=, frequently used for him.

=fuppence=, with Italian =u= having a turn towards =o=, fivepence in the old Jamaica coinage, equal to threepence English. Princess advises the return of the fuppence because it is going to get Justina (English =u= and Italian =i=) into trouble, coming as it does from an old-witch. It would not be guessed that the Jamaica coinage is identical with that of England. Such is, nevertheless, the case in spite of these curious names:

3 farthings 1 gill.
2 gills 1 quatty (quarter of sixpence, pronounced quotty).
2 quatties 1 treppence or fuppence (old coinage).
3 quatties 1 bit.
4 quatties 1 sixpence or tenpence (old coinage).
5 quatties, bit-o-fuppence.
7 quatties, bit-o-tenpence.
8 quatties 1 shilling or maccaroni.
10 quatties, mac-o-fuppence.

=go go buy.= It is not only Annancy who uses reduplications. The close English =o= is replaced in the Negro's mouth by an Italian open =o=.

=hafoo= (pronounced hahfoo, really =afoo=, an African word), a kind of yam.

='kellion=, skellion or scallion, a kind of onion which does not bulb.

=Gungo=, Congo. This pea is not only excellent for soup, but the growing plant improves the soil by introducing nitrogen into it.

=ya=, do you hear? a common ending to any remark.

=tell goodbye.= They =tell= howdy (how do you do?) and goodbye.

=Lingo Starban.= This should probably be Lingo's tavern, Lingo's tahvern; =v= and =b= being indistinguishable as in Spanish and Russian.

='cornful day=, a day of scorning or flouting. Justina wishes Tomby to believe that she tried everywhere to get some youricky-yourk, but met only with flouts and jeers.

=Hm, hm=, grumbling.

=a him=, it is him, it is that which makes you say:--"Tatalingo, here's your bit," your three quatties. She only had a treppence but the Negro is above accuracy as the Emperor Sigismund was above grammar.

=Tatalingo.= Lingo's name is now transferred to Tomby. Italian vowels in Tata. In "Finger Quashy" we find Tatafelo as one of the cats' names.

=make him a present=, make her (Justina) a present to Annancy.

=Mrs. Annancy Sinclair.= They are not particular in the matter of surnames. A remarried widow is constantly called by the surname of her first husband.

V. HOW MONKEY MANAGE ANNANCY.

One day Mr. Annancy an' his wife sat under a tree an' don't know that Mr. Monkey was on the tree. Mr. Annancy say to his wife:--"You know I really want little fresh." The wife say to Annancy:--"What kind a fresh?"

"How you mean, me wife, fe ax me dat question? Any meat at all. Me wife, you know wha' we fe do. Make we get a banana barrel an' lay it on de bed, make him favour one man, so get white sheet an' yap him up from head to foot, an' sen' go call Bro'er Cow, Bro'er Monkey, Bro'er Sheep, Bro'er Goat an' Bro'er Hog. An' when them come we mus' put all the strange friend them inside de house an' den you fe stay inside de room wi' dem."

Now Bro'er Annancy send fe all his friend, Sheep, Goat, Hog, Monkey. Cow was the minister.

When they come to Annancy yard they met him was crying.

Parson Cow say:--"Don't cry so much, my good friend, because it is the all a we road."

Annancy say:--"Ah, ah! Bro'er Cow, you no know the feeling me have fe me one puppa. Bro'er Cow, as you is the parson, take you frien' in, you will see de ole man 'pon bed."

During this time Mrs. Annancy was inside the room. The Reverend Cow went in to raise up the sheet.

Mrs. Annancy say:--"No; me husban' say nobody fe look on the ole man face till in the morning."

So Cow don't rist.

Mr. Monkey who hear all what Annancy was saying, he an' his wife wouldn' go in the house.

Mr. Annancy say:--"Bro'er Monkey, go inside. Go see the last of the ole man."

Monkey say:--"No, Bro'er Annancy, me sorry fe you too much. If a go in dere a we cry whole a night."

"No, Bro'er Monkey, go in, go keep them other one company for you are me nearest frien'."

Monkey never go.

He has to left Monkey, for Monkey was too clever for him.

An' by that time Mr. Annancy hid his cutlass back of his door well sharpen an' go in the house an' shut the door. It was the only door in the whole house, so he sat back of the door after lock it.

An' after, Bro'er Annancy ask Bro'er Cow to say a word of prayer.

During the praying Annancy was crying.

Hog with an old voice say:--"Keep up Mr. Annancy, keep up Mr. Annancy."

He cry much the better.

The prayer was finish. Mr. Annancy ask Cow to raise a hymn.

The Cow commence with hundred a de hymn, hundred a de page.

[Music:

Me gullen ho St. John,
me gullen ho St. John,
me see the last to-day ya,
me see the last, puppa gone.]

Bro'er Annancy want fe kill Parson Cow, begin with a big confusion, say that him don't like that hymn.

During this time his door was well lock, an' same time Bro'er Annancy draw his cutlass an' raise a fight, say that him don't like that hymn.

An' the poor friend them didn' have anything to fight. He kill the whole of them.

In the morning Monkey laugh, say:--"Bro'er Annancy, If me min come in a you house you would a do me the same."

Annancy say "No."

Him give Monkey a piece of the meat.

_Jack Mantora me no choose none._

NOTES.

=fresh=, fresh meat. In the country districts the only meat to be had as a rule is ancient salt beef out of a tub.

=favour=, look like. In some parts of England the word is still used in this sense.

=met him was crying=, found him crying.

=all a we.= All of us have to tread the road of death.

=one=, own.

=who hear=, who had heard previously when he was on the tree.

=cutlass.= Every Negro carries one. It is used for every sort of purpose, but seldom murderously as here.

=old voice=, voice of simulated grief.

=much the better=, all the more.

=hundred a de=, hundredth.

=me gullen ho=, nonsense words.

=confusion=, quarrel.

=min=, been. If I had come in you would have done the same to me.

VI. BLACKBIRD AND WOSS-WOSS.

One day there was a place where they usual to kill plenty of meat. An' Mr. Blackbird has a certain tree, hiding himself. An' every cow them kill Mr. Blackbird see how them kill it. An' going into the house, the house don't lock with no key nor either open with no key. When they want to go in them use a word, say "one--two--t'ree--me no touch liver," an' the door open himself. An' when them want to come out of the house them use the same words "one--two--t'ree--me no touch liver." An' Mr. Blackbird tief them fe true, an' them never find it out.

An' one day Mr. Blackbird write his friend Mr. Annancy to take a walk with him, an' him will show him where he is getting all these meat. An' when he is going him tell Mr. Annancy all the rule, that when he go on the tree he must listen, an' him will hear what them say to open the door both going in an' coming out.

What Mr. Annancy did; when he see the butcher them passing with the meat, Annancy was trembling an' saying:--"Look a meat,--Look a meat."

"Bro'er Annancy hush you mout', you a go make dem shot me."

When the butcher them gone, Mr. Blackbird come down, he an' Mr. Annancy, an' go inside the house the very same as the butcher them do, say "one--two--t'ree--me no touch liver." As they go into the house Blackbird tell him that him mustn't take no liver. An' Mr. Annancy took liver an' put in his bag. An' when Blackbird started out with the same word Mr. Annancy left inside was tying his bag.

Now Mr. Annancy ready fe come out of the house, count "one--two--t'ree--me no touch liver," and by this time he has the liver in his bag.

The door won't open.

Blackbird call him "Come on."

He say:--"The door won't open."

Then he count more than what he was to by get so frighten. He say:--"One--two--t'ree--four--five--six--seven--eight--nine--ten--me no touch liver."

The door won't open.

Mr. Blackbird say:--"Look in your bag, you must be have liver."

The fellow so sweet-mout' say in a cross way "No."

Blackbird leave him.

When Blackbird go home he look an' can't see Mr. Annancy, so him fly a bush an' get up a whole regiment of soldier. Who these soldier was, was Woss-Woss. Mr. Blackbird was the General, march before. When them reach to the place they were just in time, for the butcher were taking Mr. Annancy to go an' tie him on a tree to cut him with hot iron. Word of command was given from Mr. Blackbird, an' by the time the butcher them come to the door with Mr. Annancy the whole world of Woss-Woss come down on them.

They have to let go Mr. Annancy. Not one of the butcher could see. Mr. Blackbird soldier gain the battle an' get 'way Mr. Annancy. They take all the butcher meat an' carry home. Then Mr. Blackbird take Mr. Annancy under his wing an' all his soldiers an' fly to his own country. From that day Woss-Woss is a great fighter until now, so bird never do without them to guard their nest.

_Jack Mantora me no choose any._

NOTES.

=Woss-Woss.= The West Indian wasp hangs its paper nest to the twigs of bushes and trees as a rule, though it does not despise the shelter of the verandah. The wasps live in colonies, making many small nests instead of one big one. The nests are shaped like the rose of a watering-pot with the shank turned upwards.

This story clearly owes its origin to Ali Baba. The conversion of Sesame, which meant nothing to the negro, into one-two-three, which at least means something, is not unnatural.

=fe true=, literally =for true= is an expressive phrase conveying the idea of intensity. =It hot fe true=, it is intensely hot. =He tief fe true=, he steals terribly. =It rain fe true=, it is raining very hard. =He wort'less fe true=, he is a regular scamp. =He sinnicky fe true=, he is a horrid sneak. =His ears hard fe true=, his ears are outrageously hard, said of a boy who will not do as he is told. =He nyam fe true=, he eats immensely. =Lazy fe true=, abominably lazy. =Ugly fe true=, exceedingly ugly. =The water cold fe true=, the water is very cold. =White yam burn fe true=, the white yam is sadly burnt. =Orange bear fe true=, the oranges bear heavily. =Puss catch ratta fe true=, the cat catches any amount of rats. =Him favour tiger fe true=, he looks for all the world like a tiger, said of a man who has a sullen expression. =Me head hurt me fe true=, I have a very bad headache. =Boot burn me fe true=, my boots gall me dreadfully.

=by get so frighten=, through fright; literally, owing to his getting so much frightened.

=must be have=, must have.

=sweet-mout'=, sweet-mouthed, greedy.

VII. THE THREE SISTERS.

There was t'ree sister living into a house, an' everybody want them fe marry, an' them refuse.

An' one day a Snake go an' borrow from his neighbour long coat an' burn-pan hat an' the whole set out of clothing. Then he dress himself, an' him tell his friends that him mus' talk to those young lady. An' what you think the fellow does? He get up a heap a men to carry him to the young lady yard. An' when him got there the door was lock with an iron bar. An' when he come he say:--"Please to open the door, there is a stranger coming in." An' he sing like this:--

[Music:

My eldes' sister, will you open the door?
My eldes' sister, will you open the door oh?
Fair an gandelow steel.]

An' the eldest one was going to open the door. An' the last one, who was a old-witch, say to her sister:--"Don't open the door," an' she sing:--

[Music:

My door is bar with a scotran bar,
My door is bar with a scotran bar oh,
Fair an' gandelow steel.]

Then the Snake ask again to the same tune:--

My second sister will you open the door?
My second sister will you open the door oh?
Fair an' gandelow steel.

An' the youngest, which was old-witch, sing again:--

My door is bar with an iron bar,
My door is bar with an iron bar oh,
Fair an' gandelow steel.

An' the Snake turn to a Devil, an' the t'ree sister come an' push on the door to keep it from open.

An' the Devil ask a third time:--

My youngest sister will you open the door?
My youngest sister will you open the door oh?
Fair an' gandelow steel.

But the last sister won't have it so, an' she said with a very wrath:--

[Music:

The Devil roguer than a womankind,
The Devil roguer than a womankind oh,
Fair an' gandelow steel.]

An' the Devil get into a great temper an' say:--

[Music:

What is roguer than a womankind?
What is roguer than a womankind oh?
Fair an' gandelow steel.]

Then the Devil fly from the step straight into hell an' have chain round his waist until now.

_Jack Mantora me no choose none._

NOTES.

=Snake= is pronounced with an indefinite short vowel between the =s= and =n=, senake.

=burn-pan hat=, the tall hat of civilized towns. The =pan= is the usual cylindrical tin vessel used for cooking. When blackened by fire it is a =burn-pan= or burnt pan. It is pronounced like French _bonne_.

=Gandelow, scotran.= The meaning of these words is lost.

=roguer.= This word is doubtful. Sometimes it sounds like rowgard, at others like rowgod. It may mean "more roguish." The boy who gave me this story often quotes this line from a hymn:

"To break the bonds of cantling sin."

One day I asked him to point it out in his hymnbook. It was =conquering=. He can say it perfectly well, but he still goes on with =cantling=. It is not surprising, therefore, that we cannot recover words passed from mouth to mouth for generations.

=womankind.= Again it is doubtful whether this is a single word or two words. The article would fix it as the latter in pure English, but in negro speech it goes for nothing.

=old-witch=, though she was a young girl: see notes to No. IV. (Tomby).

VIII. WILLIAM TELL.

Once there was a man who name William Tell, an' him have a lots of cow. An' in the yard there was a tree, an' the tree no man can fall it. Any animal at all go under that tree it kill them, an' the name of the tree is Huyg.

An' William Tell wanted the tree to cut down.

An' him offer a cow to any man that kill the Huyg. They shall get the cow.

An' first of all Tacoma went to cut down the tree, an' him couldn' bear the itch, I mean 'cratch of the tree.

An' William Tell made a law that any man come to cut the tree they must not 'cratch their 'kin or else they would lose the cow.

An' Mr. Tacoma were very sorry, an' he was to leave the cow just to save his life.

An' that great man Mr. Annancy heard about the cow an' him got a very sharp axe. An' when Mr. Annancy come, William Tell show him the cow--Annancy glad when he see the cow--an' after he show Mr. Annancy the tree.

Then Mr. Annancy say:--"Ho, me good massa, don't you fret of the tree. If one sing don't send 'way the tree another one must send him 'way."

An' the first sing was:--

[Music:

Big chip, fly! little chip, fly!]

He repeat the word over an' over, but the tree don't fall yet.

So him take up another sing again:--

[Music:

Me go to Rickylanjo, eye come shine,
come show me your motion, eye come shine.]

An' Mr. Annancy never cease till him cut down the tree an' receive his reward.

NOTES.

=Huyg= for Hag, as they say =buyg= for bag. The spelling is awkward but it seems the only convenient one to adopt. The sound will be best understood from the second example. Say =buy= and put a hard =g= after it. The =Huyg= seems to combine the qualities of the Upas and Cow-itch (_Mucuns pruriens_). The last, a common Jamaica weed, looks like a scarlet runner. It bears pods covered with a pretty velvet of hairs which "scratch" or irritate the skin.

=sing.= Further on there is a collection of these =sings=.

=show me your motion=, let me see you begin to topple.

IX. BROTHER ANNANCY AND BROTHER DEATH.

One day Brother Annancy sen' gal Annancy fe go a Brother Deat' yard fe go beg fire.

When the gal go, him go meet Brother Deat' dis a eat fe him breakfas' enough eggs. Brother Deat' give gal Annancy one. Gal Annancy take the egg an', after eat done, put the shell 'pon him finger.

Brother Annancy wait an' wait but can't get the fire, till at last he see the gal a come.

When him see the gal with the egg shell 'pon him finger, him run an' bit off the gal finger slap to the hand. Him take 'way the fire, out it, an' go back to Deat' say:--"Bro'er Deat', de fire out."

Brother Deat' give him fire an' one egg, tell him fe go home.

"Say, Bro'er Deat', I goin' to give you me daughter fe marry to."

So Annancy do marry off Deat' an' him daughter the same day. So him lef' them gone for a week, then come back again fe come see him son-in-law.

When him come him say:--"Bro'er Deat', me son, me hungry."

Brother Deat' no 'peak.

So Annancy begin fe talk to himself: "Bro'er Deat' say me fe go make up fire, but no mo so me no yerry."

After five minutes him call out:--"Bro'er Deat', me make up de fire."

Deat' no 'peak.

"Bro'er Deat' say me fe wash de pot, but no mo so me no yerry."

When the pot wash done, him call out:--"Pot wash."

Deat' no 'peak.

"Bro'er Deat' say me fe to put him on, but no mo so me no yerry."

Soon him say:--"Bro'er Deat', where de vittle?"

Deat' no 'peak.

"Him say me fe look somewhe de me see enough yam, me fe peel dem put dem a fire, but no mo so me no yerry."

Annancy cook all Deat' food.

When it boil, him take it off. Him say:--"Bro'er Deat', him boil."

Deat' no 'peak.

"Bro'er Deat' say me fe share, but no mo so me no yerry."

Annancy eat fe him share, then turn back say:--"Bro'er Deat', you no come come eat?"

Deat' no 'peak.

"Bro'er Deat' say him no want none, but no mo so me no yerry."

So Annancy eat off all the food him one.

Then Deat' get vex in a him heart, and him run into the kitchen.

"Bro'er Annancy a whe you mean fe do me, say a come you come fe kill me?"

So Deat' catch Annancy an' say:--"Me no a go let you go again, no use, no use."

Then, after, Deat' carry Annancy in a him house an' leave him, gone to get his lance to kill him.

So, after Annancy sit a time an' about to go away, him say:--"Bro'er Deat' say me fe go take piece a meat, but no mo so me no yerry."

When Annancy go to the meat cask, him see the cask full with meat. Him take out two big piece of meat. Then he see fe him daughter hand with the missing finger. Him jump out of the house an' bawl out:--"Bro'er Deat', you b'ute, you b'ute, you kill me daughter."

Deat' catch him again an' was going to kill him, but the feller get 'way, run home a fe him yard.

Brother Deat' follow him when him go home.

Annancy take all him children an' go up a house-top, go hang up on the rafter. Brother Deat' come in a de house, see them up a de house-top.

Annancy say to his family--there was two boy an' the mumma--"Bear up! If you drop de man a dirty de a go nyam you."

Here come one of the boy say:--"Puppa, me han' tired."

Annancy say:--"Bear up!"

The boy cry out fe de better.

Annancy say:--"Drop, you b'ute! No see you dada a dirty de?"

Him drop.

Deat' take him and put him aside.

Five minutes the other one say:--"Puppa, me han' tired."

Annancy say again:--"Drop, you b'ute! No see you dada a dirty de?"

Him drop.

Deaf take him an' put him aside.

Soon the wife get tired, say:--"Me husban', me han' tired."

Annancy say:--"Bear up, me good wife!"

When she cry she couldn' bear no more, Annancy bawl again:--"Drop you b'ute! No see you husban' a dirty de?"

She drop.

Deat' take her.

At last Annancy get tired. Das de man, Bro'er Deat' been want. Annancy was so smart, no want fe Deat' catch him, so he say:--"Bro'er Deat', I goin' to drop, an' bein' me so fat, if you no want me fat fe waste, go and fetch somet'ing fe catch me."

"What me can take fe catch you?"

"Go in a room you will see a barrel of flour an' you fe take it so fe me drop in de."

Deat' never know that this flour was temper lime.

Deat' bring the barrel an', just as he fixing it up under where Annancy hanging, Annancy drop on Deat' head PUM, an jam him head in a the temper lime an' blind him. So he an' all him family get 'way.

_Jack Mantora me no choose any._

NOTES.

=dis a eat=, just as he had eaten.

=no mo so me no yerry=, I must have failed to hear. See page 3.

=Deat' no 'peak=, Death won't speak. The comedy is well sustained. Annancy goes through the various stages of preparation for breakfast, pretending that he is carrying out orders from Death which he fails to hear.

=put him on=, put the pot on the fire.

=somewhe de=, somewhere there. The =e='s are like French =e=, and =de= is said with a strong accent and made very short.

=enough yam=, plenty of yams.

=say a come you come=, say do you come.

=me no a go etc.=, I am not going to let you go again.

=no use=, no mistake about it this time.

=bawl.= Remember to pronounce it =bahl=.

=b'ute=, brute, pronounced byute like the island Bute.

=a fe him yard=, to his yard.

=a dirty de, etc.=, on the ground there will eat you.

=fe de better=, all the more.

=Das=, that's.

=temper lime=, tempered lime originally no doubt, but now meaning quick lime. Temper, I am told, means cross. And in further explanation my informant adds: "You can't fingle (finger) temper lime as you have a mind; it cut up your hand."

=pum= with the shortest possible vowel represents the thud of Annancy's fall upon Death's head.

The Kitchen is outside the house, often at a considerable distance from it.

X. MR. BLUEBEARD.

There was a man named Mr. Bluebeard. He got his wife in his house an' he general catch people an' lock up into a room, an' he never let him wife see that room.

One day he went out to a dinner an' forgot his key on the door. An' his wife open the door an' find many dead people in the room. Those that were not dead said:--"Thanky, Missis; Thanky, Missis."

An' as soon as the live ones get away, an' she was to lock the door, the key drop in blood. She take it up an' wash it an' put it in the lock. It drop back into the blood.

An' Mr. Bluebeard was a old-witch an' know what was going on at home. An' as he sat at dinner, he called out to get his horse ready at once. An' they said to him:--"Do, Mr. Bluebeard, have something to eat before you go."

"No! get my horse ready."

So they bring it to him. Now, he doesn't ride a four-footed beast, he ride a t'ree-foot horse.

An' he get on his horse an' start off itty-itty-hap, itty-itty-hap, until he get home.