That informal kind of dancing, referred to in some of the Annancy
stories, known as "playing in the ring" or "Sally Water" has its
origin in English children's games. Sometimes it is merely a case of
hunting the slipper or of finding a key passed from hand to hand, but
more often what begins in playing ends in dancing. The nature of this
playing in the ring will be best understood from examples.
LXXXIX.
First, as giving its name to the whole, must stand:--
[Music:
Little Sally Water sprinkle in the saucer;
Rise, Sally, rise an' wipe your weeping eyes.
Sally turn to the East,
Sally turn to the West,
Sally turn to the very one you like the best.
On the carpet you must be
happy as the grass-bird on the tree,
Rise an' stand up on your leg
an' choose the one that you like the best.
Now you married I give you joy,
first a gal an' second a boy;
Seven year after, seven year to come,
give her a kiss an' send her out.]
The boys and girls join hands and form a ring. One--the sex is
immaterial--crouches in the middle and personates Sally Water. At the
words "Rise, Sally, rise," he or she slowly rises to an erect
position, brushing away imaginary tears, turns first one way and then
another, and chooses a partner out of the ring. Where the _tempo_
changes, they wheel--a rapid turning dance--and after the wheeling,
the partner is left inside the ring and becomes Sally Water.[51]
[Footnote 51: For a discussion of this game, perhaps the best-known
and most widely-spread of all English singing games, see A.B. Gomme,
_Traditional Games_, vol. ii., p. 149.]
XC.
Another form of this Ring tune is:--
[Music:
Poor little Zeddy they put him in the corner!
Rise, Zeddy, rise an' wipe your weeping eyes;
Zeddy, turn to the East;
Zeddy, turn to the West;
Zeddy, turn to the very one you like the best.]
XCI.
The negro is a born actor, and to give emphasis to his words by
appropriate gestures comes naturally to him. The little comedy which
follows suits him to perfection:--
[Music:
Whe me lover de?
Seemya, seemya.
Me lover gone a sea?
Seemya, seemya.
Me no see me lover ya.
Seemya, seemya.
Him gone a Colon bay.
Seemya, seemya.
Go fin' you lover now.
Seemya, seemya.
No make no 'tupid de.
Seemya, seemya.
Fool dem let dem go.
Seemya, seemya.
Me lover come back.
Seemya, seemya.
Go take you lover now.
Seemya, seemya.
Wheel him make me see.
Seemya, seemya.
Throw a kiss to him.
Seemya, seemya.
Wheel him let him go.
Seemya, seemya.[52]]
[Footnote 52: To avoid the tiresomeness of contraction marks, "see him
ya" has been written in one word. It sounds exactly like _senior_ with
an m instead of an n.]
A ring is formed, and a girl is put in the middle. She asks:--"Where
is my lover?" and the ring answers in chorus:--"See him here." "Has my
lover gone to sea?" and the answer comes again:--"See him here." The
gal goes on:--"I do not see my lover; has he gone to Colon bay?" and
then, as though speaking to herself:--"Go, find your lover now. There!
don't pretend to be stupid." At this point she takes the hand of a boy
in the ring as if she were going to dance with him, but immediately
pushes him back, and says, still speaking to herself:--"Fool them, let
them go." Then simulating contrition and breaking the hitherto even
rhythm:--"My lover, come back!" At "Go take your lover now" she goes
again to the same boy, takes him out of the ring-circle and dances
with him. They _wheel_ at the words "Wheel him make me see," which
mean, "Let me see you wheel him." Finally at "Wheel him let him go"
they part hands.
Frequent references will be found to Colon. Jamaica labourers used to
go there in large numbers to work on the Panama canal.
XCII.
To the same class belongs:--
[Music:
Ring a diamond, ring a diamond,
Why oh ring a diamond.
Get in the ring you'll find one Sambo boy.
Why oh ring a diamond.
Me look me da look me no find one Sambo boy.
Why oh ring a diamond.
Me find me diamond, me find me diamond.
Why oh ring a diamond.
Wheel you diamond, wheel you diamond.
Why oh ring a diamond.
Let go diamond, let go diamond.
Why oh ring a diamond.]
This tune has a beautiful swing. In many bars it is almost impossible
to distinguish whether the tune is triple or duple. Much license may
be allowed in the direction of the latter to a good timist, but the
general impression of triple time must be kept. The "Sambo boy" bar
must be sung very smoothly. It is neither quite as it is written the
first time nor quite as it occurs in the second, but just between the
two. Three even crotchets with judicious _tempo rubato_ would give it.
It will be understood that these tunes are sung antiphonally. In this
one the leaders, who know the tune and words well, sing the first four
bars and the next four belong to the chorus, after which the leaders
take it up again, and so on.
There is an opportunity here for a little harmless "chaff" about
colour. The diamond chosen is a _black_ diamond, the blacker the
better. The ring forms round him joining hands, and one girl is pushed
in to look for the Sambo boy. She says:--"I look, I am looking, I
don't find a Sambo boy" (_i.e._ a quarter black). At last she finds
her diamond, either the boy inside the ring or one of those who circle
round him, and they dance together, wheeling and letting go hands at
the words "wheel," "let go."
"Why" is an ejaculation, probably the same as Hi!
XCIII.
Another chorus tune of the same kind is:--
[Music:
The gal over yonder carry banana,
gal oh! gal oh! carry banana.
A nine-hand banana, carry banana,
a Chiney banana, carry banana.
You find the banana? carry banana.
You tief the banana? carry banana.]
The girl is supposed to be carrying a bunch of bananas on her head,
and the singers are commenting upon it and asking the girl questions,
as they do here at a distance of half-a-mile. "Look! It is a nine-hand
banana. No, a China banana. Did you find it? Did you steal it?"
Banana bunches are reckoned by the number of hands they contain, the
separate bananas being called fingers. Nine-hand is a convenient
market size. The China banana is a stout low kind which withstands
wind: the fruit is, however, coarse.
The signal for taking a partner is given by the words "You find the
banana?"
XCIV.
In the next there is no dancing. The ring closes up tight, shoulder to
shoulder. Hands behind the back pass the ball round and round, and the
girl inside the ring tries to find it. The person with whom it is
found has to go into the ring and turn seeker.
[Music:
Pass the ball an' the ball goin' round,
the ball goin' round an' the key can't find,
Mother, honey, oh! the ball goin' round.
Journey, ball, journey, ball, journey, ball, journey,
Mother, honey, oh! the ball can't find.]
The conventional "gwine" for "going" hardly represents it, only the
_o_ is pronounced so short that the word becomes practically one
syllable. In the dance tunes we shall come across the word "dying"
shortened in the same way.
XCV.
A variation of this is obtained by putting a ring on a cord and
sliding it along. The tune is:--
[Music:
Me los' me gold ring fin' an' gi' me,
Me los' me gold ring fin' an' gi' me,
Me los' me gold ring fin' an' gi' me,
A me husband gold ring fin' an' gi' me.]
XCVI.
In "Mother Phoebe" again there is no dancing:--
[Music:
Old moder Phoebe, how happy you be
When you sit under the Jinniper tree,
oh the Jinniper tree so sweet.
Take this old hat an' keep your head warm,
Three an' four kisses will do you no harm,
It will do a great good fe you.]
Here the girl inside the ring takes a hat or cap and after several
feints puts it on somebody's head, and that person has then to take
her place in the ring.
XCVII.
More lively is the joyous:--
[Music:
Do, do, do, do, do,
Deggy, Deggy house a go burn down, do, De Gay.
Deggy whe you would a do de do, De Gay?
Deggy dood an' doodess do, De Gay.
Deggy go roun', Deggy do Degay.
An' a cutchy fe Deggy do Degay,
an' a wheel an' let go do, De Gay.
Deggy house a burn down do, De Gay.]
The boy inside the ring "makes all sort of flourish," dancing and
posturing by himself. The word "cutchy" is accompanied by a deep
curtsey, on rising from which he takes a girl out of the ring and
wheels her. Deggy or Degay, has occurred already in No. LVII. Whether
it is his own house that is burning, or somebody else's, it is
impossible to conjecture. Observe the varying accent on the name. In
taking down this song I first wrote "doodan doodess," thinking they
were nonsense words suggested by the repetition of do, do, do, but on
asking further about them was told that "dood" is a "risky beau-man,"
a smart well-dressed young fellow. So it is the American "dude" and
its female counterpart "dudess" which here take the place of the usual
"gal and boy."
XCVIII.
The latter we find in:
[Music:
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 cock cock 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 cock cock 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 le le le, me da le le le,
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 de_ would mean Me is there, I am there. Le is substituted 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 snatch 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 whe you bring, Palmer, oh William Palmer!
Dat de 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!
CIV.
Very popular is the next one:--
[Music:
Mother Freeman, a whe me Gungo de?
Not a one can sow me Gungo;
Fe me Gungo, da precious Gungo,
Not a one can sow me Gungo;
All the gal them a go dead 'way 'pon me,
Not a one can sow me Gungo.
All the boy a go dead 'way 'pon me,
Not a one can sow me Gungo.]
Mother Freeman, where is my Gungo (a kind of pea)?
No one will sow my Gungo, or perhaps rather:--Will no one sow my
Gungo? For my Gungo is precious Gungo.
As they sing and dance, the boys pretend to faint, and fall into the
arms of the girls. When the words change, the girls fall into the arms
of the boys, who catch them. "Dead 'way 'pon me," besides meaning to
faint, has a slang interpretation equivalent to: "All the girls are
death upon me."
CV.
The following is perhaps a sly allusion to some dull-witted boy:--
[Music:
Me have me goosey a me yard,
Me no call Barny clever.
Go bring me goosey a me yard,
Me no call Barny clever.
Wheel me goosey make me see oh!
Me no call Barny clever.]
Thick sour milk allowed to stand and curdle is called "barnyclebber"
[Irish word, F.Y.P.].
CVI.
Here we have a reference to the too common practice of stealing, which
is treated more as a joke than a crime:--
[Music:
Drill him, Constab, drill him;
Drill him, Constab, drill him;
She tief her mother shilling fe go buy Sapadilla.
Buy Sapadilla,
buy Sapadilla;
You go an' tief the shilling fe go buy Sapadilla.
Wheel him, Constab, wheel him;
Wheel him, Constab, wheel him;
Him tief him mother shilling fe go buy Sapadilla.]
A girl is the delinquent and the "Constab" (constable, pronounce _con_
as in _constant_) is inside the ring with her, lightly beating her
with a twig or pocket-handkerchief. When one has been marched round
and wheeled, he "sends her out" and takes another.
Sapadilla is really a fruit something like a medlar, but the name is
given to all sorts of fruit, notably Granadilla.
CVII.
Another "flogging" tune, but without any dancing, is:--
[Music:
If you make him come out I will kill you to-night ya,
Why do, me Nana, do!]
A girl is in the ring and a boy is flogging her with a whip. The boy
says to the holders of the ring:--"If you let her come out I will kill
you to-night, do you hear?" The girl is going round, begging to be
released, with the appeal to each one:--"Oh do, my Nana!" that is, "Do
let me out."
CVIII.
The most laughable antics, "mechanic" as they call it, are indulged in
in the next:--
[Music:
Oh me Toad oh!
Come along, Toad-eye;
Oh me Toad oh!
Come along, me Toady boy;
Come along, Toad-eye;
Come along, me Toady boy;
Oh me Toad oh!
Come along, Toad-eye.]
Each girl has a "Toad" in front of her to protect her. The Toads jump
about, and the one who can get past the other and capture his girl,
wins. Jamaican toads, or at least the small kind, hop like the frogs
of cooler countries.
CIX.
The first half of the tune which follows occurs in the story of
Annancy and Screech-owl (No. XIX.):--
[Music:
There's a black boy in a ring, tra la la la la,
There's a black boy in a ring, tra la la la la,
There's a black boy in a ring, tra la la la la,
He like sugar an' I like plum.
Wheel an' take you pardner, jump shamador!
Wheel an' take you pardner, jump shamador!
Wheel an' take you pardner, jump shamador!
For he like sugar an' I like plum.]
The boy inside the ring chooses his partner, whom he leaves there
after the dance. She obtains release by choosing another partner, whom
she leaves behind. So there is alternately a boy and a girl in the
ring.
"Shamador" is possibly a corruption of "camerado."
CX.
The next is an old tune which is going out of fashion. It is still
remembered in my district, but nobody can tell me how it is danced.
[Music:
Johnny, Johnny, da wharra fe dinner?
Three slice a lilly bit a dumpling,
Me Johnny come roll the board.]
"Da wharra" literally means "is what." What is there for dinner? Three
slices and a little bit of dumpling. I tried to find out whether they
were slices of dumpling or slices of something else, but no one could
tell me that. The dumplings are plain flour and water, innocent of
suet. They are very popular, and are eaten with a morsel of salt fish
or meat. Johnny is invited to come and roll them on the board.
CXI.
We all know the next tune:--
[Music:
Me lover gone a Colon Bay,
Colon Bay, Colon Bay,
Me lover gone a Colon Bay
With a handsome concentina.
Oh what is your intention,
intention, intention?
Oh what is your intention?
My intention is to marry you.
I will married to you,
I will married to you,
I will married to you,
I will married to you,
I will married to you,
I will married to you
With a handsome concentina.]
(Levi always sings:--"What is your retention, retention, retention?")
In "I will married to you" the wheeling becomes a giddy business, at
least to the onlooker. The dancers never seem to feel it, nor do they
appear to mind the heat. They simply stream with perspiration and put
their handkerchiefs round their necks to save their white collars.
CXII.
A little breathing time is given by:--
[Music:
Good morning to you, mother;
Good morning to you, daughter;
What is your intention?
I want to be a teacher.
You shan't be a teacher.
I bound to be a teacher.
Jump shamador, me darling.
What is your intention?
I goin' to be a doctor.
You shan't be a doctor.
I bound to be a doctor.
You shan't be a doctor.
I will be a doctor.
Jump Shamador, me darling.]
There is no dancing here. The mother walks round inside the ring, the
various members of which she addresses in turn. "You shan't" is
emphasised by an uplifted arm swept vigorously downwards and a stamp
of the foot. The answers go through the various professions until it
is felt that there is a want of something more exciting, which is
supplied by:--
CXIII.
[Music:
One Johnny Miller he was living Water Lane
an' he wheel right roun' an' the ladies drop.
One on the right an' the other on the left,
an' he wheel right roun' an' the ladies drop.]
The tune is again familiar. A boy takes two girls out of the circle,
leaves one in the middle and wheels the other. Having dropped her he
wheels the second one. The wheeling over, she is dropped. These two
then resume their places in the circle, and the boy takes out two
more.
"Water Lane." Kingston lies on ground sloping evenly to the sea. It is
laid out on the American plan in parallel streets. A broad "Street"
alternates with a narrower "Lane." The lanes pointing to the sea have
water running down them and are called Water Lanes.
CXIV.
The next is used both as a Ring-tune and for the favourite Fifth
Figure of the Quadrilles:--
[Music:
Me go to Morant Bay, Bahlimbo.
Me see one Coolie gal, Bahlimbo.
Lard! me love the gal, Bahlimbo.
Me tell her wait fe me, Bahlimbo.
The gal no wait at all, Bahlimbo.
Me ride, me ride, me ride, Bahlimbo.
Me catch her on the way, Bahlimbo.
Me bahss her all the way, Bahlimbo.
The mumma say me rude, Bahlimbo.
But that no rude at all, Bahlimbo.
For woman cloth so cheap, Bahlimbo.
Two yard fe bit, Bahlimbo.
Man cloth so dear, Bahlimbo.
One pound a yard, Bahlimbo.]
"Bahlimbo" is a nick-name for a cheap sort of cloth, _i.e._ fabric of
any kind. In Africa calicoes are called _limbo_. The "two yards fe
bit" kind is calico print. A "bit" is fourpence halfpenny. "Bahss"
means buss, kiss.
White people pronounce Morant as it is spelt, but the Blacks always
put the accent on the first syllable, and usually call it Morrum.
CXV.
As the time for dancing approaches (see note on weddings in "Gaulin"
p. 76) the ring breaks up, and there is a lively marching tune or two,
such as:--
[Music:
Oh den Jacky me knee da go ben' a palm palm;
oh me knee da go ben' a palm palm.]
The couples with the right arm of one partner locked tightly into the
left of the other march about bending their knees at rhythmical
intervals, presenting the most ridiculous appearance. The tune has an
infectious gaiety about it as its sections are sung over and over and
interchanged. If you repeat them as often as they do, you will feel
stealing over you that kind of intoxication which the Dancing
Dervishes experience.
CXVI.
There is a great deal of laughing over "Jacky," which suggests:--
[Music:
When me get a Mister Walker gate,
Me will laugh, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Me will laugh he, he, he, he!
Me will laugh ha, ha!*
Me will laugh qua, qua, qua, qua!
Me will laugh ha, ha!*
Me will laugh till me bustle drop!
Me will laugh ha, ha!*
Me will laugh ha, ha, ha, ha!
Me will laugh ha, ha!*
Me will laugh ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Me will laugh ha, ha!]
At the marks * a return is made to the first four bars, always
substituting a new name for Walker, and the tune has many more
"turnings" besides the ones noted.
A sufficient selection of Ring tunes has now been given to show their
character. The number might be indefinitely increased. Every district
has its own, and while some old favourites remain, new ones are
constantly in process of making. These supply, or more than supply,
the gaps caused by those which drop out.