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 [Note]

146. The Cumbolo.

Sarah Findley, Santa Cruz Mountains.

An ol' man an' a wife was travelling going on walk when they hear a nice music was playing an' the ol' man say to his wife, "O Quasiba,[2] hear dat sweet music singing over yonder. I like

[2. Two school-mistresses in Bethlehem, Santa Cruz Mountains, gave the following list of "born-day names" which belong to negro children in Jamaica according to the day of the week upon which they are born. See Jekyll, int. x (l. C.).

An old woman who was telling me of some obeah practises assured me that the obi-man (sorcerer) did not use a man's common name when he wanted to bewitch him, but his "born-day" name.

 

Boys

Girls

Sunday

Quashy

Quashiba

Monday

Quaco

Juba

Tuesday

Cubena

Cuba

Wednesday

Cudjo

Bennie

Thursday

Quaw

Abba

Friday

Cuffy

Pheba

Saturday

Quamin

Benneba.

 

]

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to know where dat music come from."--"Ol' man, you tak time walk an' we soon hear where dat music from But Bruddie, dat ol' Cumbolo dat was singing las' night!"--"Den you mus' come let we dance de Cumbolo, Susan, we all a Cumbolo!" (sing and dance)--


Su-san, da'we all a Cum-bo-lo. Sus-an, da'we all a Cum-bo-lo.[1]

[1. The music was recorded by a colored boy who was organist in the church at Bethlehem. The dance (also called "calimbe") is performed at wakes, two men holding a couple of sticks parallel while a third dances upon them to the strains of the song.]


Next: 147. John-crow and Fowl at Court.