Part 3 — CXIV.
Reading edition
The next is used both as a Ring-tune and for the favourite Fifth Figure of the Quadrilles:—
[Listen] [XML]
Me go to Morant Bay, Bahlimbo. Me see one Coolie gal, Bahlimbo. Lard! me love the gal, Bahlimbo. Me tell her wait fe me, Bahlimbo. The gal no wait at all, Bahlimbo. Me ride, me ride, me ride, Bahlimbo. Me catch her on the way, Bahlimbo. Me bahss her all the way, Bahlimbo. The mumma say me rude, Bahlimbo. But that no rude at all, Bahlimbo. For woman cloth so cheap, Bahlimbo. Two yard fe bit, Bahlimbo. Man cloth so dear, Bahlimbo. One pound a yard, Bahlimbo.
"Bahlimbo" is a nick-name for a cheap sort of cloth, i.e. fabric of any kind. In Africa calicoes are called limbo. The "two yards fe bit" kind is calico print. A "bit" is fourpence halfpenny. "Bahss" means buss, kiss.
White people pronounce Morant as it is spelt, but the Blacks always put the accent on the first syllable, and usually call it Morrum.