An' this the song:—
|
There's a blind boy in a ring, tra la la la la, There's a blind boy in a ring, tra la la la la, There's a blind boy in a ring, tra la la la la, He like sugar an' I like plum. |
An' when Annancy sing the sing done, he catch up 'creech-owl an' wring off him neck, an' get him cook for his breakfast an' becomes the master of 'creech-owl's band of music.
An' from that day Mr. Annancy becomes the greatest player an' the biggest raskil in the world.
Jack Mantora me no choose none.
NOTES.
the only danger, the only danger is. This omission is frequent.
At daylight, or soon after, it is the custom to drink tea. This is generally hot water and sugar with, or more often without, milk. Sometimes they make an infusion of the leaves of lime, orange, mint, fever-grass, cinnamon, pimento or search-me-heart. Coffee and chocolate are also occasionally used. These all grow in Jamaica, but, owing to its high price, actual tea is beyond the reach of the peasant. Lime is, of course, not the English tree of that name, but the tropical one which bears that small juicy fruit which is so much better than the coarser lemon. Fever-grass (Andropogon citratus) has the exact smell and taste of lemon-scented verbena. Search-me-heart (Rhytidophyllum tormentosum) is a pretty wild plant with leaves of green velvet, which on moist days give out a delicious aromatic smell much like Humea.