Folkloring Jamaica
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Folkloring Jamaica
@folkloringjamaica.blacksky.app
A space for Jamaican culture, history, folklore and legends.

Jamaican • published writer • she/her
In the old days, the ‘horn man’ had to undergo a long and arduous training, and still does, but the skill for sending ‘talking messages’ seems to have died out.
[Beckwith 1929, Campbell 1990, Dallas 1803, DJE, Dunham 1946]”

— from ‘ABENG’ in Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage by Olive Senior
January 6, 2026 at 5:56 PM
...Katherine Dunham who visited the ACCOMPONG community in the 1940s said the Colonel of the Maroons told her that, ‘When expertly blown, the message is transmitted not by a signal or code but by the actual pronunciation of the words and by tones which are easily distinguishable by a trained ear’. +
January 6, 2026 at 5:53 PM
...the Maroons could communicate w/ one another over great distances in ways that would not be understood by outsiders... Mavis C. Campbell describes it: ‘This instrument can utilize a wide range of notes; thus it was capable of transmitting complicated messages, intelligible only to the Maroons, +
January 6, 2026 at 5:50 PM
“The word abeng comes from the Twi language of the Akan of Ghana and means an animal horn or MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. The Maroons used the abeng to keep in touch with each other during their wars, hence it has by extension come to be a symbol of freedom; +
January 6, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Folkloring Jamaica
It IS awesome! Have you watched Andor, its prequel?
November 7, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Folkloring Jamaica
Also, if a website doesn’t have the extension “.gov.jm” it is NOT a Jamaican government site. Please share the details from that IG post far and wide to help prevent well-meaning people from being defrauded. #HurricaneMelissa
October 31, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Mi deh yah.

Melissa a warm up to rahtid.
October 28, 2025 at 5:29 PM