Language in Exile: Three Hundred Years of Jamaican Creole

8. The Eighteenth Century

8 The Eighteenth Century Text 2. The Importance ofJamaica to Great Britain Consider'd in a Letter to a Gentleman Eighteenth-century writers in Jamaica seldom recorded any verbatim nonstandard speech. The speech of Africans and creoles is represented by sparse word lists, and few writers even attempted to comment on the language usage of the island. The following excerpt from The Importance (1740: 18-20) gives the earliest traceable account of connected creole usage of the period. The writer's attitude suggests that he is a supporter of slavery. Early Fragment The Slaves do the Offices of Servants, either [in] the House or Field; the House Negroes live as old Servants in England, and some will refuse their Freedom, when offer'd them, saying, Why shouldthey leave goodee Moster, andgoodee Mistress, where every Thing is providedfor them, to meet with Troubles, andstaroee staroee about the Streets. The others work in the Field, Men and Women; but their Labour is not so hard as our poor People's in England; the Creol Negroes greatly value themselves for being born in the Island, and think themselves as much superior upon that account, as an ancient Britain [sic] would himself to a Norman, and are afraid of the wild Negroes.... . . . When they are severely corrected, they will tell their Masters, if you ki/lee me, you lose Negroe, sensible that their Labour is their Master's Riches. The old Greek . . . took a milder but more effectual Method to expose one of his [slaves] than stripes; he had him tarr'd all over, and then roll'd in Feathers. Imagine what a Figure he made. 129 130 Eighteenth-Century Texts They make odd but natural Reflections. They say, Ships come from England, from Pensilvania, New-York, New-England, Bristol (which they don't think is in England;) but none come from Jew land, and they wonder where it is. England must be a large place and Scotland a small one; for Scots Bacceroes (which they call all white Men) all know one another, but English Bacceroes no know one another. Text 3. A Short Journey in the West Indies The anonymous author, himself the owner of an estate and two hundred slaves (Short Journey 1790: 1.66), considered slavery a disgrace to nature and reason (92). His description reveals an interest in the condition of the slaves and especially in their language. In the first excerpt, the narrator gives his views of Jamaican Creole (1.69). These are followed by a conversation with an old man named Cudjoe1 (1.72). A. An Old Man of the Late Eighteenth Century He speaks his mind, and advancing years have had their wonted effect upon his tongue. He loves to talk, and I love to hear him talk. Our colloquies would divert you, could I remember them verbatim, for his remarks are often proverbial, and his allusions keen and novel. . . . The language of the negroes is more expressive than I could have supposed, and conveys their ideas most forcibly. Cudjoe has gained experience, and he tells stories with humour." "Massa," said old Cudjoe to me, some days after my arrival, "you no dey go in a plantation? all you nega dey come down, if you no go see 'em soon. You been tan here in a dis country, so long you no shame for no go see dem yet?"2 Very true, Cudjoe, said I to him, I ought to be ashamed of myself. Well, old man, we'll set out to-morrow morning. "Gar a mighty in a top! Massa, dem nega dey go run mad wid joy for see you." ... When shall we get there Cudjoe? "Massa will come dere for nyam dinna, if massa no nyam dinna, a Panish Town in a pass." But at what time Cudjoe? "Massa muss top lilly bit for bait in a Panish Town, den we will catch de 'tate 'bout four or twelve o'clock." J. B. Moreton, Customs and Manners 131 B. White Creole Child A white planter family at Prospect Penn provided the setting for the following scene between a white Jamaican boy of about seven and his mother (2.36). Both mother and son use creole forms such as "woman crab"; the child's speech is entirely basilectal. The text is of particular sociolinguistic interest, supporting the view that JC was commonly spoken as a first language by white as well as...