1 min de lecture

My Pretty Dan

I have a póliceman down at de Bay,[1]
An’ he is true to me though far away.

I love my pólice, and he loves me too,
An’ he has promised he’ll be ever true.

My little bobby is a darlin’ one,
An’ he’s de prettiest you could set eyes ’pon.

When he be’n station’ up de countryside,
Fus’ time I shun him sake o’ foolish pride.

But as I watched him patrolling his beat,
I got to find out he was nice an’ neat.

More still I foun’ out he was extra kin’,
An’ dat his precious heart was wholly mine.

Den I became his own a true sweetheart,
An’ while life last we’re hopin’ not fe part.

He wears a truncheon an’ a handcuff case,
An’ pretty cap to match his pretty face.

Dear lilly p’liceman stationed down de sout’,
I feel your kisses rainin’ on my mout’.

I could not give against[2] a policeman;
For if I do, how could I lub my Dan?

Prettiest of naygur is my dear police,
We’ll lub foreber, an’ our lub won’t cease.

I have a policeman down at de Bay,
An’ he is true to me though far away.

2 min de lecture

Ribber Come-Do’n[1]

From de top o’ Clarendon hill
Chock down to Clarendon plain
De ribber is rushin’ an’ tearin’
’Count o’ de showers o’ rain.

An’ a mudder, anxious an’ sad,
Two whole days be’n gone away,
A-buyin’ fresh fish fe tu’n han’[2]
Slap do’n at Old Harbour Bay.

But de dark ribber kept her back,
Dat night she couldn’ get home,
While a six-week-old baby wailed,
An’ wailed for a mudder to come.

An’ a fader too was away
’Cross de Minha[3] wukin’ him groun’,[4]
So him couldn’ get home dat night
Sake o’ de ribber come-do’n.

Dere were four udder little ones
’Sides de babe of six weeks old,
An’ dey cried an’ looked to no use,[5]
An’ oh dey were hungry an’ cold!

So de lee fourteen-year-old gal,
De eldest one o’ de lot,
Was sad as she knelt by the babe
An’ byaed[6] her on de cot.

"Bya, bya, me baby,
Baby want go sleepy."

She look ’pan de Manchinic[7] tree,
Not a piece of mancha fe eat;
De Jack-fruit dem bear well anuff,
But dere wasn’t one o’ dem fit.[8]

Nor puppa nor mumma could come,
Aldough it be’n now nightfall;
De rain pour do’n an’ de wind blow,
An’ de picknanies dem still bawl.

So de poo’ Milly ’tarted out
To whe’ a kin’ neighbour lib,
Fe see ef a bite o ’ nenyam[9]
Dem couldn’ p’raps manage fe gib.

"Ebenin’, cousin Anna,
Me deh beg you couple banna,[10]
For dem tarra one[11] is berry hungry home;
We puppa ober May,[12] ma,
We mumma gone a Bay, ma,
An’ we caan’ tell warra’ time dem gwin’ go come."

The kind district mother thought
Of her own boy far away,
An’ wondered much how he fared
In a foreign land that day.

She opened de cupboard door
An’ took from it warra be’n sabe,
A few bits o’ yam an’ lee meal,
An’ a pint o’ milk fe de babe.

De parents dat night couldn’ come,
De howlin’ wind didn’ lull,
But de picknanies went to bed
Wid a nuff nuff bellyful.

2 min de lecture

A Country Girl

“Lelia gal, why in this town do you stay?
Why, tell me, why did you wander away?
Why will you aimlessly foolishly roam,
Won’t you come back to your old country home?”

“Country life, Fed, has no pleasures for me,
I wanted de gay o’ de city to see,
To wear ebery Sunday a prettier gown,
Da’s why I came to de beautiful town.”

“Well, have you gotten de joys dat you sought?
If so, were not all o’ dem too dearly bought?
Yes, Liel, you do wear a prettier dress,
But have you not suffered, my girl, more or less?

“Hold up your head! look not down, tell me truth,
Have you not bartered your innocent youth?
Are you de Lelia, true Lelia, of old,
Or have you swopped out your honour for gold? ”

“Fed, it was horrid de lone country life!
I suffered-for sometimes e’en hunger was rife;
An’ when I came, Fed, to try my chance here,
I thought there would be no more troubles to bear.

“But troubles there were an’ in plenty, my lad,
Oh, dey were bitter, an’ oh, I was sad!
Weary an’ baffled an’ hungry an’ lone,
I gave up my spirit to sigh an’ to moan.

“After dat?—O, Feddy, press me not so:
De truth?—well, I sank to de lowest of de low;
I gave up all honour, I took a new name
An’ tried to be happy, deep sunk in de shame.

“Dere was no other way, Fed, I could live,
Dat was de gift dat a gay town could give;
I tried to be glad in de open daylight,
But sorrowed an’ moaned in de deep o’ de night.

“No, Fed, I never could go home again:
‘Worse than I left it?’ ah, there was de pain,
To meet up wid some o’ my former schoolmates
An’ listen to all o’ deir taunts an’ deir hates.

“Dere now, you bound me to tell you o’ all,
Of all de sad suff’rings dat led to my fall;
I’m gone past reclaiming, so what must I do
But live de bad life an’ mek de good go?”

“Lelia, I want you to come out de sin,
Come home an’ try a new life fe begin;
Mek up you min’, gal, fe wuk wid you’ han’,
Plant peas an’ corn in de fat country Ian’.

“Dere is no life, gal, so pleasant, so good,
Contented and happy you’ll eat your lee food;
No one at home know ’bout wha’ you’ve jes’ said,
So, Liel, of exposure you needn’t be ’fraid.”

“Don’t t’ink I care ’bout exposure, my boy!
Dat which you call sin is now fe me joy;
Country for Lelia will have no more charm,
I’ll live on de same way, ’twill do me no harm.

“And after all, many gals richer than me,
Pretty white girlies of better degree,
Live as I do, an’ are happy an’ gay,
Then why should not I be as happy as they?”

1 min de lecture

My Soldier-Lad

See yonder soldier-lad
In Zouave jacket clad?
His lovin’ heart is mine,
His heart so bright an’ glad;
My soul an’ spirit combine
To love my soldier-lad.

O my dear lilly soldier-lad,
I am true an’ so are you;
And oh, my lovin’ heart is glad,
For I know that you are true.

My pretty soldier-boy,
He is my only joy:
He loves me with his might,
A love without alloy,
My one, my true delight,
My pretty soldier-boy.