The paper string bound book entitled “The Negro Alphabet” was printed in Kingston, Jamaica by Ashton W. Gardner & Company and drawn by V. Heaven. Searches have turned up no information about this title, no information about the publisher, and nothing about the artist. The publisher has an English name, and as a white horsewoman appears on one page in the book, my best guess is that the publishing company was part of the British community that operated the sugar cane plantations throughout the island. The book is in terrible condition, challenged even after a complete restoration. The climate of Jamaica would be the most likely culprit for this damage, as any Caribbean locale is extremely hard on paper. This alphabet book is not dated, but likely comes from the late 19th Century, when these colloquialisms were still in use.
It is difficult to determine the audience for this book. My guess is that it might have been for an European, more specifically British, Market, but I could not find a record of this book anywhere. If the book was solely for domestic consumption, and for sales to visitors, it becomes more remarkable. It was not an expensive project, with nine pages total, printed in a 13″ x 10″ black and white format. Yet, the contents of the book, the illustrated topics for each letter of the alphabet, do not reflect any pejorative attitude toward the native black population in Jamaica. Each page contains a number of letters, with an expression in Jamaican dialect with a translation below. If one were to put this publication in a category, anthropology or linguistics would be the most accurate. Expressed in the book is an appreciation for the strange and convoluted dialect that developed in Jamaica after the advent of British control.
There is also an appreciation for the suffering that black Jamaicans had endured. For example “B is a Bukra – A berry bahd man” translated as “B is a Bukra (white person) – A very bad man”.
But – the main fascination here – the surprising ways in which the English language can be transmuted – is expressed on every page.
Two of my favorite examples are: “W is – Wurrah! Me de clear me forget!”, which translates as W is Worry! I declare I forget! illustrated with a portrait of an old woman…
and “D is a Duppy, him yi tan like fiat”, which translates as D is a Duppy (a ghost), his eye is like fire” with an illustration of the “Rollin calf Duppy” or the ghost of a cow.
I cannot be sure if there are any pockets on the Jamaican island where these forms of English are still spoken, but it is intriguing to see these expressions in print.
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Comments
5 responses to “The Negro Alphabet – An Unusual ABC Book”
I was immediately reminded of George Willard Bonte’s “ABC In Dixie” wjocj was American from about the same time with a lot of differences. Although the pictures (in color) are on the right side of the book and the writing in dialect on the left side Bonte was not Black, the publishers are known. However, there is a cartoon quality to both books . I feel a similar quality in your book. I do not think that it was done for the natives byt rather to the Brits living there or visiting. ABC in Dixie was written for children and I have never seen a copy in really good shape which means, to me, that children liked it! I have shown it to several Black firiends and none were offended by the contents; the art work won over.
In yours, however, I can see white’s chuckling quietly and of course they would have needed some idea of the dialect to understand it! Perhaps it was privately and/or quietly printed.
I will ask araound. Good luck.
I don’t do Facebook but I love this item!!! I love particularly the way it’s both drawn and translated with heart (as you indicated) and because of the skill with which the drawing is done. You found a treasure, Mark!
From the blog Jamaican Echoes by Kerry-Ann Morris:
The Jamaica Alphabet Rhyme
This entry was posted on November 23, 2010, in Stuff They Never Mentioned in History Class and tagged culture, heritage, history, Jamaica, oral culture, people.
Have you ever heard about the Jamaica alphabet rhyme, also called the Negro alphabet in long time colonial days?
This seems to have been a popular rhyme for entertainment during bruckins parties or as a stand-alone ring-game played by children. Martha Warren Beckwith (1871-1959), an American folklorist and ethnographer who studied different aspects of Jamaican folklore in the early 20th century, decribed how the ring game was played as follows (Beckwith 1928, p. 83):
Any number of players sit in a circle. As a letter falls to each player in the order of its succession in the alphabet, he must match the letter with an object with the same initial be reciting a verse from some familiar alphabet or inventing one impromptu in the same form. A forfeit is demandeed as the penalty for failure.
There are several versions of the Jamaica alphabet rhyme and it seems to vary according to the location of its origin. Beckwith (1928) herself recorded four versions: three from those she interviewed (Copeland’s Alphabet, Canow School Alphabet and Mandeville version) and one sourced from the Gleaner titled the Jamaica Kitchen Alphabet, which she referenced as the Kingston version.
A popular publisher during the late 19th century, Aston W. Gardner, published the earliest written version of the rhyme in 1896 as the John Canoe Alphabet. He then published The Negro Alphabet in 1897, an illustrated version of the former publication. He also came out with a series of postcards showcasing the illustrated rhymes. The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Library’s Digital Collection showcases these postcards.
One of Aston W. Gardner’s alphabet postcards showcasing “I is a gentleman, him berry well bred” (Robertson 1985, p. 15)
The following version of the alphabet is found in Jamaican Negro Proverbs and Sayings (1972):
A is for assinoo, see how him ‘tan;
B is for bockra, a berry bad man;
C is for puss, him name call Maria;
D is for duppy, him yeye shine like fire;
E is for eel, him ketch a de ferry;
F is for fiddle, him play berry merry;
G is for gub’ner, him lib a king’s house;
H is for Dry Harbour, place poor as church mouse;
I is a gentleman, him bery well bred;
J is for John Crow, him hab a peel head;
K is for callalu, berry nice when him bwoil;
L is for lizard, him tail quite ‘pwoil;
M is for monkey, look pon him face;
N is for Nana, him cap trim wid lace;
O is for oliphant, him hab a long snout;
P is for patoo, a night him come out;
Q is for quattie, beg missus one please;
R is for ratta, him nyam too much cheese;
S is for snake, him lib in a grass;
T is for tick, him tick berry fast;
U is for Uncle, please tell hum how’dye;
V is for vervain make berry good tea;
W X Y me sure me feget;
Z is for Zebedee mendin’ him net.
Paula –
This is excellent information, and an important link between the Africans brought to both the US and the Caribbean islands for work. I have never seen a copy of ABC in Dixie, and I will keep eyes open for it. Thanks for expanding my knowledge.
Wow! You nailed it Evie. I spent some time online trying to track down some information, but this Jamaican history site really did the trick. So, the book was published in 1897, and the publisher was about to embark on an extensive project publishing postcards, many of which reflect the same interest in black colloquialisms. Now, we have to start looking for those cards.