{"id":26,"date":"2021-06-14T09:44:35","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T13:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/claudemckay\/?post_type=chapter&p=26"},"modified":"2022-02-03T08:44:06","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T13:44:06","slug":"quashie-to-buccra","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/chapter\/quashie-to-buccra\/","title":{"raw":"Quashie to Buccra","rendered":"Quashie to Buccra"},"content":{"raw":"You tas'e[footnote]Taste[\/footnote] petater[footnote]Sweet potato (Ipomaea Batatas)[\/footnote] an' you say it sweet,\r\nBut you no know how hard we wuk[footnote]Work[\/footnote] fe it;\r\nYou want a basketful fe quattiewut,[footnote]Quattieworth: quattie, a quarter of sixpence[\/footnote]\r\n'Cause you no know how 'tiff de bush fe cut.[footnote]Becanse you don't know how stiff the bush is to cut, i.e., what hard work it is to fell the trees and clear the land.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nDe cowitch[footnote]Mucuna Pruriens[\/footnote] under which we hab fe 'toop,\r\nDe shamar[footnote]Shamebush, the prickly sensitive plant (Mimosa Pudica)[\/footnote] lyin' t'ick like pumpkin soup,\r\nIs killin' somet'ing[footnote]Terrible stuff[\/footnote] for a naygur man;\r\nMuch less[footnote]More[\/footnote] de cutlass workin' in we han'.\r\n\r\nDe sun hot like when fire ketch a town[footnote]In[\/footnote];\r\nShade-tree look temptin', yet we ca~m' lie down,\r\nAldough we wouldn' eben ef we could,\r\nCausen we job must finish soon an' good.[footnote]Because our job must be quickly and thoroughly done[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nDe bush cut done, de bank dem we deh dig,[footnote]The clearing of the land done, we dig the banks-kind of terraces on the steep hill-side\u2014but owing to our neighbour's pig they cannot stand. \"Bank dem \" = banks. This intrusive \"dem\" must be tacked closely to the preceding word. It occurs again below\u2014\"row dem.\"[\/footnote]\r\nBut dem caan' 'tan' sake o' we naybor pig;\r\nFor so we moul' it up he root it do'n,[footnote]For no sooner do we mould it up, than he (the pig) roots it (the bank) down. \" Down\" is pronounced very short, and is a good rhyme to \"tongue\"[\/footnote]\r\nAn' we caan' 'peak sake o' we naybor tongue.[footnote]And we cannot complain, for this would 'bring confusion' i.e., cause a row.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nAldough de vine is little, it can bear;\r\nIt wantin\"not'in' but a little care:\r\nYou see petater tear up groun', you run,[footnote]A piece of humorous exaggeration: \"When you see the potatoes tearing up the ground in their rapid growth you will run to save yourself from being caught and entangled in the vines[\/footnote]\r\nYou laughin', sir, you must be t'ink a fun.[footnote]You are laughing, sir\u2014perhaps you think I am exaggerating[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nDe fie!' pretty? It couldn't less 'an dat,[footnote]Less than that = be otherwise[\/footnote]\r\nWe wuk de bes',[footnote]We work as well as we possibly can[\/footnote] an' den de lan' is fat;\r\nWe dig de row dem eben in a line,\r\nAn' keep it clean-den so it mus' look fine.\r\n\r\nYou tas'e petater an' you say it sweet,\r\nBut you no know how hard we wuk fe it;\r\nYet still de hardship always melt away\r\nWheneber it come roun' to reapin' day.","rendered":"

You tas’e[1]<\/sup><\/a> petater[2]<\/sup><\/a> an’ you say it sweet,
\nBut you no know how hard we wuk[3]<\/sup><\/a> fe it;
\nYou want a basketful fe quattiewut,[4]<\/sup><\/a>
\n‘Cause you no know how ‘tiff de bush fe cut.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

De cowitch[6]<\/sup><\/a> under which we hab fe ‘toop,
\nDe shamar[7]<\/sup><\/a> lyin’ t’ick like pumpkin soup,
\nIs killin’ somet’ing[8]<\/sup><\/a> for a naygur man;
\nMuch less[9]<\/sup><\/a> de cutlass workin’ in we han’.<\/p>\n

De sun hot like when fire ketch a town[10]<\/sup><\/a>;
\nShade-tree look temptin’, yet we ca~m’ lie down,
\nAldough we wouldn’ eben ef we could,
\nCausen we job must finish soon an’ good.[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

De bush cut done, de bank dem we deh dig,[12]<\/sup><\/a>
\nBut dem caan’ ‘tan’ sake o’ we naybor pig;
\nFor so we moul’ it up he root it do’n,[13]<\/sup><\/a>
\nAn’ we caan’ ‘peak sake o’ we naybor tongue.[14]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Aldough de vine is little, it can bear;
\nIt wantin”not’in’ but a little care:
\nYou see petater tear up groun’, you run,[15]<\/sup><\/a>
\nYou laughin’, sir, you must be t’ink a fun.[16]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

De fie!’ pretty? It couldn’t less ‘an dat,[17]<\/sup><\/a>
\nWe wuk de bes’,[18]<\/sup><\/a> an’ den de lan’ is fat;
\nWe dig de row dem eben in a line,
\nAn’ keep it clean-den so it mus’ look fine.<\/p>\n

You tas’e petater an’ you say it sweet,
\nBut you no know how hard we wuk fe it;
\nYet still de hardship always melt away
\nWheneber it come roun’ to reapin’ day.<\/p>\n

  1. Taste ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. Sweet potato (Ipomaea Batatas) ↵<\/a><\/li>
  3. Work ↵<\/a><\/li>
  4. Quattieworth: quattie, a quarter of sixpence ↵<\/a><\/li>
  5. Becanse you don't know how stiff the bush is to cut, i.e., what hard work it is to fell the trees and clear the land. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  6. Mucuna Pruriens ↵<\/a><\/li>
  7. Shamebush, the prickly sensitive plant (Mimosa Pudica) ↵<\/a><\/li>
  8. Terrible stuff ↵<\/a><\/li>
  9. More ↵<\/a><\/li>
  10. In ↵<\/a><\/li>
  11. Because our job must be quickly and thoroughly done ↵<\/a><\/li>
  12. The clearing of the land done, we dig the banks-kind of terraces on the steep hill-side\u2014but owing to our neighbour's pig they cannot stand. \"Bank dem \" = banks. This intrusive \"dem\" must be tacked closely to the preceding word. It occurs again below\u2014\"row dem.\" ↵<\/a><\/li>
  13. For no sooner do we mould it up, than he (the pig) roots it (the bank) down. \" Down\" is pronounced very short, and is a good rhyme to \"tongue\" ↵<\/a><\/li>
  14. And we cannot complain, for this would 'bring confusion' i.e., cause a row. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  15. A piece of humorous exaggeration: \"When you see the potatoes tearing up the ground in their rapid growth you will run to save yourself from being caught and entangled in the vines ↵<\/a><\/li>
  16. You are laughing, sir\u2014perhaps you think I am exaggerating ↵<\/a><\/li>
  17. Less than that = be otherwise ↵<\/a><\/li>
  18. We work as well as we possibly can ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":251,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-26","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/26\/revisions\/29"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/26\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}