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WHAT IS FOLKLORE?

It is the traditional belief,

customs and stories of a
community passed
through generations by
word of mouth.

FOLK CULTURE refers to the culture of

ordinary people, especially those living in
pre-industrial societies. According to
Dominic Strinati, folk culture is
considered to arise from the grass roots,
is self-created and autonomous and
directly reflects the life and experiences
of the people. Folk culture includes oral
traditions such as folk songs and stories
that have being handed down from
generation to generation. The folklore is
different in each Caribbean territory but
one constant in each countrys folklore is

JAMAICAN FOLKLORE

Anancy:Anancy,

the spiderman, is of the

Ashanti culture (Ghana). He is legendary for his
trickery and cunning. Every Jamaican has memories
of Anancy stories being told by some elder family
member or friend. From Anancy and Dawg to Pig an
Long-Mout. He can be God-like, being the reason why
pig mout long, why rat live inna hole.... But Anansi
can be a human figure, not only cunning, lazy,
envious, and greedy, but also wickedly accurate
about the pretensions of others.

Jonkonnu: Jonkonnu, a celebratory

pageant which dates back to the days
of slavery. Colourful Jonkonnu troupes
usually perform in communities at
Christmas time. However, they are
seen less frequently nowadays. The
characters, typically played by men in
costume, include Pitchy Patchy (bits of
coloured cloth cover the dancer from
head to foot), Horse, Cow, House, the
Devil, Bellywoman (Pregnant woman),

Digging songs & Folksongs: Folksongs tell the

story of life's happening. They tell of the history
of a people. The building of the Panama Canal- '12-3-4 Colon man a come' ; World War II- 'Fan me,
soldier man fan me'; Timeless worries- 'Shine-eye
girl is a trouble to a man, cause she want
everyting'. Digging songs, worksongs of the farm
or plantation, enabled slaves to communicate
while under the watchful eyes of the overseer
and also helped to lighten the work. This tradition
has been retained by subsistence farmers
working each others field (grung') and swinging
their hoes in unison. A lead singer sets the pace
and the others respond in a chorus. Many digging
songs have common masculine like nagging
wives; (Lead) 'Woman is a people, (chorus)
'grumble too much'. Other manual labourers, like

Gran' Market: Gran' Market, a

community fair featuring plenty of food,
crafts, street dance and music, is held
just prior to Christmas. Like Jonkonnu, it
is a tradition from the days when slaves
were given time off at Christmas and
they celebrated in the town square.
Similar markets are now held before
holidays like New Year's Day, Easter and
Independence Day. Everyone comes to
town for Gran' Market, even the elderly
who are normally housebound. People
meet, greet, purchase foods for the

GUYANA FOLKLORE
Ole Higue: The story is that the ole higue, the Guyanese
form of a human vampire, capable of discarding her skin takes
the form of an old woman living in a community. At night she
transforms herself into a ball of fire, flies from her own house up
into the sky and then lands on the roof of another house where
there is a baby in a cradle underneath a sheet whose blood she
will suck dry and then go home. The suspicions of the
community are soon aroused and the school children cry "ole
higue" at her; they make chalk marks, on the bridge to her
house, the door, the jalousie window. But the legend goes that
she crosses these marks bravely. Then the community sets a
trap. When the ole higue flies abroad another night she finds
that the baby in the cradle is clothed in a blue night gown.
There is a heap of rice grains near to the cot and the smell of
asfoetida. These cast a spell on the ole higue who has to count
the grains of rice, and if she loses her way, she has to start
counting again. The light of morning comes and the ole higue

Obeah: In Guyana the practice emerges as (1) the

religious rites of certain traditional African
mysteries brought to South America and the
Caribbean by the slaves and frowned upon by
slave owners as devil-worship and calling up spirits
from the dead. (2) The rites attached to poisoning,
administered in secret by slaves on their European
masters, in a deeply motivated urge to freedom or
(3) spells against other slaves for money, or to
gain love, or in revenge for wrong, real or
imagined. Obeah men or women were often
individuals with powerful personalities and with a
desire to dominate, who used a paraphernalia of
materials for the purpose of harming others e.g. a
compound of dirt from a human grave and the
blood of a black cat mixed with a paste and kept in
a goat's horn, a dried frog, the tail of a pig,

TRINIDAD FOLKLORE
PHANTOME: This spectre stands at the
crossroads, with his immense height and long legs
wide apart, straddling the road. As a victim
approaches him, he slaps his legs shut, squeezing
him to death like an anaconda. His only warning is
a shrill, a spine-tingling whistle which the
Phantome emits prior to his assault. It is difficult to
escape an attack from a Phantome as potential
victims encounter grave difficultes with outrunning
his enormous strides. When he disappears, a thick
vapour lingers on the spot where he last stood.

PAPA BOIS: Papa Bois, the Father of the Woods, is

known by a wide range of names, including Maitre
bois (Master of the Woods) and Daddy Bouchon
(Hairy Man). He has the ability to appear in many
different forms, sometimes as a deer, sometimes
hairy and, though very old, extremely strong and
muscular, with cloven hoofs, leaves growing out of
his beard and small horns sprouting from his
forehead. As the guardian of the animals and the
custodian of the trees, he is known to sound a cows
horn to warn his friends of the approach of hunters
and is highly intolerable of wanton hunters who kill
and destroy without reason. Offenders beware! Papa
Bois has been know to lead hunters deep into the
forest, leaving them lost or perhaps compelling them
to pay a fine of some sort, such as to marry Mama

Tobagan: Folklore & Superstitions

Tobago shares the same folklore legends as her sister
island Trinidad. However, there are some characters, like
the Mermaids and Fairy Maids, that are not included in
Trinidadian folklore. These legendary creatures are
exclusive to Tobago alone. One can only assume that
their lineage is purely European in nature.

MERMAIDS: Mermaids are, strangely enough,

male. Why they were not simply called mer-men is
anyone's guess. They inhabit the turbulent waters
from the St. Giles Islands at the north end of
Tobago, down the windward coast to Fat Hog Bay.
Riding upon the crest of waves, they are
handsome men like kings of old or warriors of long
ago, beplumed and richly garbed. They are
capable of granting wishes or showing the way to
sunken treasure. However, their bounty must be
accepted with coution, since they are also capable
of bestowing evil.

FAIRY MAIDS: The Mermaids mate with the Fairy

Maids, who inhabit the rivers and hidden mountain
pool areas. Very beautiful, with long flowing hair
and one tiny deer's hoof, the Fairy Maids have been
know to "turn" men's heads, stealing their shadows
and leaving them demented. If this is the case,
accompanied by friends and family and with the
help of a "workman", the cursed man must go to
the river and address the water pleading for the
restoration of his lost shadow. With this done, he
must leave the water's edge and not look back. To
end a relationship with a Fairy Maid will cost a man
two pairs of shoes: The first must be burnt on the
beach and the second, when the Fairy Maid appears
to inquire about payment for services rendered,
must be thrown into the water.