Jamaican Folk Songs
Jamaican folk songs fall into three groups: the digging-song, topical tunes and the games.
The digging-songs have a distinctive tempo especially suited to aid labor, making the time seem short and the work seem light. Usually a chief singer starts the tune, and the others join in with the chorus. There is also a short refrain of a couple of words called “bobbin”. The chief singer is expected to improvise or provide variation for verses.
The topical tunes seem to have gained a large share of local attention. Example of a topical tunes are “Linstead Market” and “Mango Walk”.
The folk-games have originated mostly from English and Scottish sources, rather than African. Nevertheless, they bear the imprint of the race of African natives. There has been three chief group of games: the stone-passing games, the steady rhythm –like, “there’s a brown girl in the ring” , and the romping games –like, “bull in de pen”. The folk-games have played a major part in the social development of the Jamaican people.
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