| 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] |
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.