Happy Garifuna Settlement Day!

November 19, 2024 

‘Proverbs are the palm-oils with which words are eaten.’

From Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe.

SIR COLVILLE NORBERT YOUNG, GCMG, MBE, D. Phil

Sir Colville was born in Belize City, in November 1932, into a musical family.

In 1961 he was awarded an honors degree in English at the University of the West Indies. He went on to pursue studies at York University in England where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1974, his thesis being a sociolinguistic study of the Kriol (Creole) spoken in Belize.

His published works include a series of books of and about Belizean Literature including Literature and Education in Belize, Creole Proverbs of Belize, From One Caribbean Corner and Caribbean Corner Calling, the last two containing poems in English and Belize Creole. Of these books, Creole Proverbs is his most recognized. In 1993, just before becoming Governor General, he published a book of short stories called Pataki Full, earning acclaim from the local writing community. In the Belizean Writers Series, his stories have been featured in ‘Snapshots of Belize’. The play Riding Haas in the drama anthology Ping Wing Juk Me has also been featured in the Series.

Paralleling his professional career has always been his musical zeal, which he fully expressed as director of the former Belize Technical College steel band and as composer of the noted cantata ‘Ode to Independence’ and ‘Misa Caribeña’. A collection of some of his compositions was released in a 1999 CD by Ludwig Productions entitled Brad Pattico and Valerie Lovell Sing Song by Sir Colville Young. The compositions on this CD were formerly published in two cassettes entitled Belize Christmas Bram and September in Belize. He has a stated interest in promoting the development of Belizean Music and has actively contributed to efforts in Belizean schools to maintain music as an educational staple.

Apart from his pioneering study of the Kriol Language of Belize and his musical work, he is a noted educator who taught for many years and served as president of the former University College of Belize. This affiliation has led to the establishment of the Sir Colville Young Scholarship Award tenable at the University of North Florida for a Master’s Degree.

Sir Colville was appointed Governor-General of Belize on November 17, 1993 and served until April 30, 2021. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on her Royal Visit to Belize in 1994. His tenure of 28 years is the longest of any governor-general in the history of the Commonwealth

Sir Colville is married to Lady (Norma) Young, née Trapp, and has three sons and a daughter. His family residence is in Belize City.

Introduction to Creole Proverbs of Belize

(Fourth Edition, Belize, 2003)

Proverbs are flashes of folk-wisdom that encapsule the experiences and characteristic attitudes of people. They often make use of the devices we associate with poetry-alliteration, close-packed meaning and, above all, insightful comparisons. The folk imagination seems to range over its animal, bird, and insect life to find apt or vivid metaphors and similes.

An entire book of the Bible is devoted to proverbs and many a pithy saying from both the Old and New Testaments has passed into common currency e.g. “The leopard does not change his spots” from Jeremiah XIII. 23, or “A live dog is better than a dead lion” from Ecclesiastes IX. 4.

Creole proverbs have the added value and interest of providing a store-house of linguistic usage, often in archaic forms.

The proverbs in the volume are for the most part commonly used, especially among older and rural people. The undeniable fact that they are dying points up the urgency of collecting and making available as many as possible before they are irrevocably lost. (This is a world -wide problem as folk cultures are gradually replaced by “civilization”.)

Many persons interested in our Belizean culture have felt a sense of frustration when they go to small collections, like that in A.H. Anderson’s “Brief Sketch of British Honduras”, Belize 1952, and realize that there must be many unrecorded. Teachers in particular have often felt the need for a more comprehensive collection. This volume makes no claim to comprehensiveness. I have, very likely, omitted hundreds. But at least I have made a start, a foundation on which future compilers can build.

I have made no attempt at scholarly tracking of origins. Some are obviously of British or European ancestry with a distinctive local turn earning then the right to be called “Belizean”. A good example is the common saying “Seeing is believing”, which is often quoted in rural Belize in the curious form “Hearing is a part of understanding, but seeing is believing”. Similarly, the addition of “but the old one know the corner” to the well-known saying about the new brooms, seems to be a Belizeanism (or West Indianism). Some of the proverbs are no doubt African in origin. It is not surprising if, whether European or African, they have suffered a sea-change in their trans-Atlantic journey. And, of course, many may have originated locally. 

These proverbs ae for the most part family memories. Some have been communicated by people who know of my interest in Creole culture and my part in the Caribbean Lexicography Project (directed by Dr. R Allsopp of U.W.I.). To all who have helped in any way, my thanks.

Inevitably, I have omitted many of personal favourites, for this I apologize. Perhaps future editions could repair the omission.

And now, let the proverbs speak for themselves.

Sir Colville Norbert Young

Some Kriol Proverbs of Belize

–Buy today, credit tomorrow:

No credit, since tomorrow never comes.

–Cow know weh weak fence deh:

Literally: The cow knows where the weak fence is (i.e. to break out easily).

Meaning: Advantage is taken of the weak.

–Cow no business eena haas gyalop:

Literally: Cows have no business in a horse race.

Meaning: A man should stick to what he knows or specializes in.

–Crab walk til e meet kiss-kiss:

Literally: A crab walks (leaves its hole) until it meets a ‘kiss-kiss’ (a kind of large wooden tongs fpor handling hot objects or, as here, for seizing and capturing crabs; it probably received its name from the parts seemingly to ‘kiss’ as they are brought together.

Meaning: The adventurer some day meets his nemesis.

–Every jancro t’ink e pikni white:

Literally: Every carrion crow thinks it’s child is white.

Meaning: Everybody pretends his own is best.

–Fisherman neva say e fish ‘tink:

Literally: The fisherman never says his fish is stink.

Meaning: Self-criticism is rare.

–Ol(d) firewood no hard fo ketch:

Literally: Old firewood catches fire easily.

Meaning: When old companions fall out, they quickly become friends again. This saying is especially applied to lovers.

–Tiger maaga but e caca tarry:

Literally: The tiger is meager, but its shit is sticky.

Meaning: Don’t be fooled by a person’s seeming insignificance.

–To gi ‘way you batty an’ shit t’rough you ribs:

Literally: To give away your bottom and shit through your ribs.

Meaning: To be so generous as to be left without what one needs.

–Wen fish co(me) fram rive-batam an’ tell you haligetta gat pain-a-belly, believe a(m).

Literally: When the fish comes from the river bottom and tells you the alligator has belly-ache, believe it.

Meaning: Information obtained from someone in a position to know is likely to be true.

–Sleep wid you own eye:

Meaning: Don’t depend on others to carry out your responsibilities.

For other proverbs, buy the book Creole Proverbs of Belize, collected by Colville N Young, D. Phil

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BOOKS WRITTEN BY DR. HENRY W. ANDERSON

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Soon to be released:

SISIMITO V - THE FALL OF YAXCHÉ; The final book of theextraordinary Sisimito Series.

I DREAM OF OBWAANDI’EYAAG (PONTIAC), BUFFALO AND PRAIRIES.

INFORMATION/LINKS

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