- Na marin,
oh! - nah sun time, oh! nah evenin, oh! - nah middle night, oh! - all
same - no make pussin sleep. Not ebry bit dat, more lib da! One
Boney bwoy lib oberside nah he like blow bugle. When dem two woh-
woh bwoy blow dem ting de nize too much too much.
When white man blow dat ting and pussin sleep he kin tap wah make
dem bwoy carn do so? Dem bwoy kin blow ebry day eben Sunday dem kin
blow. When ah yerry dem blow Sunday ah wish dah bugle kin go down
na dem troat or dem kin blow them head-bone inside.
Do nah beg you yah tell all dem people 'bout dah ting wah dem two
bwoy dah blow. Till am Amtrang Boboh hab febah bad. Till am titty
carn sleep nah night. Dah nize go kill me two pickin, oh!
Plabba done. Good by Daddy.
Crashey Jane."
Now for the elementary student we will consider this letter. The
complaint in Crashey Jane's letter is about two boys who are
torturing her morning, noon, and night, Sunday and weekday, by
blowing some "long long brass ting" as well as a bugle, and the way
she dwells on their staying power must bring a sympathetic pang for
that black sister into the heart of many a householder in London who
lives next to a ladies' school, or a family of musical tastes. "One
touch of nature," etc. "Daddy" is not a term of low familiarity but
one of esteem and respect, and the "Tampin Office" is a respectful
appellation for the Office of the "New Era" in which this letter was
once published. "Bwoy head big too much," means that the young man
is swelled with conceit because he is connected with "Militie ban."
"Woh woh" you will find, among all the natives in the Bights, to
mean extremely bad. I think it is native, having some connection
with the root Wo - meaning power, etc.; but Mr. Hutchinson may be
right, and it may mean "a capacity to bring double woe."
"Amtrang Boboh" is not the name of some uncivilised savage, as the
uninitiated may think; far from it. It is Bob Armstrong - upside
down, and slightly altered, and refers to the Hon. Robert Armstrong,
stipendiary magistrate of Sierra Leone, etc.
"Berrah well" is a phrase used whenever the native thinks he has
succeeded in putting his statement well. He sort of turns round and
looks at it, says "Berrah well," in admiration of his own art, and
then proceeds.
"Pickin" are children.
"Boney bwoy" is not a local living skeleton, but a native from Bonny
River.
"Sally own" is Sierra Leone.
"Blow them head-bone inside" means, blow the top off their heads.
I have a collection of trade English letters and documents, for it
is a language that I regard as exceedingly charming, and it really
requires study, as you will see by reading Crashey Jane's epistle
without the aid of a dictionary.
