When he gets to Bangheson's shop he buys a quattie (pronounce quotty, penny halfpenny, quarter of sixpence) loaf, and what more do you want, John Thomas?
The quattie bread weighs eight ounces only. It is therefore a dear and much esteemed luxury.
LXXVIII.
Sambo, that we had just now, is the shortest of bobbins. Here we have a long one of four bars.
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Whé mumma dé? Whé mumma dé oh? Come go da 'tation, you see mumma dé; Him take half a day, him a work seven dollar, Come go da 'tation you see mumma dé. |
Mamma has got into trouble, owing to a failing unhappily too common in Jamaica, inability to distinguish between what is mine and what is yours. Her pay for half a day was a "bit" (fourpence halfpenny) and she has managed to "work" (sarcastic use of the word, for it means to get by working) seven dollars—twenty-eight shillings—and has been taken to the police station.