Meri Bonbo mich langa meri wá langa.
From A Voyage to ... Jamaica ... by Hans Sloane, M.D. London. 1707. Vol. i. pp. l, li.
The words of these songs are Hobaognion, ognion and Meri Bonbo mich langa meri wá langa. Sir Hans Sloane observes that the Jamaican negroes of that time had their native instruments: (i) gourds with necks and strung with horsehair, (ii) a "hollow'd Timber covered with Parchment," having a bow for its neck, the strings tied longer or shorter.
These songs, however inaccurately recorded, are of the greatest value for the hint they give us of Jamaican music as it existed over two centuries ago. It will be observed that the songs are named 'Angola' and 'Koromanti,' according to their African provenance. In the present collection of modern songs, reference is made in Song [CI.] to Koromanti ('Cromanty'). So, too, the word 'Bungo' in Song [CXXVII.] no doubt refers to the large Bongo district of Africa (cf. 'Bungo talk,' [p. 12], n.).