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Jamaican song and story — Themes and Context
(3 User reviews)
751
Project Gutenberg
2011
Not confirmed
Folklore -- Jamaica; Folk songs, English -- Jamaica; Folk music -- Jamaica; Anansi (Legendary character)
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Project Gutenberg digital edition
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Edition facts
Words
78,684
Reading time
343 min
Text sections
12
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Project Gutenberg record #35410
Walter Jekyll's 1907 collection of Jamaican Anansi stories, work songs, and dance tunes, with linguistic notes and musical transcriptions. The tales blend African trickster traditions with Jamaican Creole, featuring a cunning, often greedy Annancy who schemes against Tiger, Cow, and others. The volume includes digging sings, ring tunes, and appendices on African and English melodic traces.
Editorial Edition Score
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- Title & short description10 pts
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Edition quality
Read the Text
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:--
"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.
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._
=Go a river fe wash 'kin=, go to the river to wash their skins. Pronounce =fe= like =fit= without the =t=.
=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.
Walter Jekyll's Jamaican Song and Story (1907) presents a rich archive of oral traditions, blending Anansi trickster tales, work songs, and dance tunes. The collection is notable for its careful transcription of Jamaican Creole, capturing the rhythm and idiom of the storytellers. Jekyll's preface and Alice Werner's introduction frame the material within folklore scholarship, while appendices by C.S. Myers and Lucy Broadwood analyze musical origins. The tales, such as 'Annancy and Brother Tiger' and 'Cow and Annancy,' showcase a cunning, often greedy spider-hero whose schemes repeatedly backfire, revealing a world where wit and appetite collide.
Narrative Voice and Creole Texture
The stories are told in a vivid Jamaican Creole that shapes the narrative voice. In 'Cow and Annancy,' the syntax and vocabulary—'piesh a chewshtick,' 'frighten for Cow,' 'fan you tail'—create a distinct oral quality. The narrator uses direct address and repetition, as when Annancy calls out, 'A da come, no see me frien' a come tell you howdy.' This language is not merely decorative; it drives the pacing and humor. The tales often shift between third-person narration and quoted speech, with Annancy's cunning revealed through his own words. The Creole also marks social relationships: Annancy's polite 'howdy' contrasts with his later threats, showing how language is wielded as a tool of manipulation.
Pacing Through Repetition and Action
The pacing in 'Cow and Annancy' relies on repeated actions and escalating tension. Annancy's instructions to Cow—'fan you tail'—are repeated three times, each with a different tone: first as reassurance, then as a command, finally as a threat. The story builds through a series of small actions: Annancy fetching cane, climbing a tree, inviting Cow home, sharpening tools. The climax arrives abruptly when Annancy's bill 'catch the rope, set Cow free,' and the chase begins. This pattern of slow setup and sudden reversal is common in the collection, where Annancy's elaborate plans often collapse in a single moment. The songs inserted at key points, like Annancy's taunt after Cow escapes, further modulate the rhythm.
Shifts Between Genres: Story, Song, and Commentary
The volume's structure itself enacts a change in pace, moving from prose tales to 'Digging Sings' and 'Ring Tunes.' The stories, with their extended dialogues and trickster plots, give way to short, repetitive work songs like 'Oh hurrah, boys!' and 'Tell Mr. Linky.' These songs are transcribed with musical notation, and their brevity contrasts with the narrative complexity of the Anansi tales. The appendices by Myers and Broadwood shift the tone again, offering analytical commentary on melodic origins. This alternation between oral narrative, lyric, and scholarly analysis invites the reader to experience the material from multiple perspectives—as entertainment, as labor, and as cultural artifact.
Readers may find it useful to read the tales aloud, attending to the Creole rhythms and the repeated phrases that signal Annancy's schemes. The musical transcriptions in the second half reward close listening; the Project Gutenberg edition includes links to audio and XML files. Comparing the Anansi stories with the digging sings reveals how different genres served different social functions—trickster tales for moral play, work songs for communal labor. Jekyll's collection remains a vital record of Jamaican oral tradition, preserving voices that blend African heritage with Caribbean experience.
There’s something achingly familiar in Jekyll’s Annancy—that wily hunger always tripping over its own cleverness. It reminds me of the old Cornish tales, where the hearth fire made room for both mischief and grief. I think of Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Second Series — Reading Companion and how both books keep a certain lonely song alive, a little off-key, but still humming.
Charlotte Torres
2 weeks agoHenry Harris
1 month ago-
Paul Brewer - 1 month ago
{'type': 'neutral', 'text': "Provides a comprehensive collection of Jamaican songs and folk stories, but the academic tone may not appeal to casual readers. The transcriptions are accurate, yet the context sections feel dry. It's a valuable resource for researchers, but for general interest, it may be too specialized. Nonetheless, it preserves important cultural material."} -
Mark Zachary Rodriguez - 1 month ago
{'type': 'positive', 'text': "An illuminating look into Jamaican folklore and traditions! The book expertly weaves together songs, stories, and cultural commentary, offering a vivid picture of the island's heritage. As a Jamaican expat, it filled me with nostalgia and pride. The musical notation and annotations are invaluable for those interested in ethnomusicology. A must-read for anyone wanting to understand the roots of Jamaican culture beyond reggae."} -
Katherine Cooper - 3 weeks ago
{'type': 'negative', 'text': 'The book suffers from a lack of clear structure, making it difficult to follow. The stories are interesting, but the commentary is dense and distracting, often using outdated anthropological language. It could have been better edited to make it accessible. A missed opportunity to present a vibrant culture in a more engaging way.'}
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