[Ads-l] Antedating of Jamboree

Thu Mar 14 19:00:04 UTC 2019

Google Books has a different 1853 song book which uses the variant
spelling "Jamberine".

Buckley's Ethiopian Melodies (1853)
https://books.google.com/books?id=ODVYAAAAcAAJ&q=Jamberine#v=snippet&q=Jamberine&f=false

[Begin excerpt - check for OCR errors]
Hoop Jamberine
Written for Buckley's Serenaders, by D. Emmit.

I WENT down to New Orleans,
I think myself a man,
De first place I found myself
Was on board de Talleyrand.

CHORUS.--
Hoop Jamberine, Hoop Jamberine,
Vinegar shoes and paper stockings,
Get up ole boss.
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to Peter's Feb 2018 mailing list message:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2018-February/150874.html

On Thu, Mar 14, 2019 at 2:48 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I don't remember whether I've posted this here before, but there is at least one earlier example of "Jam bo ree" that is consistent with early African-American usage.
>
> An advertisement for "White's New Ethiopian Song Book" in 1850 lists the contents of the book, including an entry for a song, "Whoop! Jam-bo-ree."
>
> The Pittsburgh Daily Post, July 3, 1850, page 2.
>
> HathiTrust has a collection of Minstrel songbooks published in 1854 that appears to include the "White's New Ethiopian Song Book" in its entirety.
>
> HathiTrust has another undated minstrel songbook with a different title, but which includes the lyrics of a song by the same title.
>
> Both books have the same lyrics.
>
>
> [Excerpt]
> "Whoop, Jam-Bo-Ree, - Jig.  As sung by the original Dan Emmett, (in imitation of the western boatmen,) at White's Melodeon.
>
> I went down to New orleans, I tink myself a man,
> De first place I fotched up was on board de Tallyrann.
> Chorus- Whoop, jam-bo-ree! Whoop, jam-bo-ree!
> Vinegar shoes and paper stockings, Git up! ole hoss!"
> . . .
> [End Excerpt]
>
> White's New Ethiopian Song Book, page 16, included as part of the collection, Christy's and White's Ethiopian Melodies comprising The Melodeon Song Book; Plantation Melodies; Ethiopian Song Book, Serenader's Song Book, and Christy and Wood's New Song Book,  Philadelphia, T. B. Peterson & Brothers,  1854.
>
> Also, Christy's Panorama Songster, New York, William H. Murphy, undated, page 135.
>
>
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "Z Rice" <zrice3714 at gmail.com>
> To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
> Sent: 3/14/2019 2:44:55 AM
> Subject: Antedating of Jamboree
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Z Rice <zrice3714 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Antedating of Jamboree
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Etymonline now lists the following for "jamboree": "1866, "carousal, noisy
> drinking bout; any merrymaking," represented in England as a typical
> American English word, perhaps from jam (n.) on pattern of shivaree
> [Barnhart]. For the second element, Weekley suggests French bourree, a kind
> of rustic dance. Century Dictionary calls the whole thing "probably
> arbitrary." Klein thinks the word of Hindu origin (but he credits its
> introduction into English, mistakenly, to Kipling). Boy Scouts use is from
> 1920. It is noted earlier as a term in cribbage."
>
> The above theories seem quite arbitrary and the "Hindu origin" theory does
> not explain why or how the term would come to be so strongly associated
> with the native Black American population of the US. I maintain in my
> research that the term jamboree [d=CA=92=C3=A6mb=C9=99=C9=B9i=CB=90 / d=CA=
> =92=C9=91mb=C9=99=C9=B9i=CB=90] "celebration, f=C3=AAte,
> inauguration" is of African origin, from the Mandinka jomboroo
> [d=CA=92omboro=CB=90] "celebration, f=C3=AAte, inauguration."
>
> The Mandinka term is derived from the Mandinka jombo "to celebrate" + -roo
> "a Mandinka suffix (that transforms an active verb to a noun).
>
> The Mandinka/African origin would explain the strong association of the
> term jamboree with the native Black American population of the US, its
> status as an "Americanism," and its early, 1854 usage as "celebration,
> f=C3=AAte" in the 1854 article that Reitan referenced in the following
> passage(s):
>
> *"The word was in use in Cleveland in 1854 to refer to a party hosted by a
> firehose company. It appears in a collection of Cleveland newspaper
> abstracts compiled in the 1930s.*
>
> *The Annals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland W.P.A. Project;
> distributed by the Cleveland Public Library, 1936, page 119:*
>
> *"FCD [Forest City Democrat (original name of the Cleveland Leader)] Jan.
> 7, 1854: 3/1 =E2=80=93 The boys of the Hope fire company No. 8 are going to=
> have a
> big time at their jamboree on Jan. 12, and national hall will be crowded to
> overflowing. They expect to realize enough from this festival to make a
> substantial payment toward the purchase of a new engine which will cost
> about $2,500.""*
>
> -- Zola Sohna
>
>
>
> __________________________________________
> "[Ads-l] Antedating of Jamboree
> Peter Reitan pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM
> Wed Feb 14 15:26:15 EST 2018
>
>
>
> *Etymonline.com lists 1866, Merriam Webster online lists 1861,
> Oxforedictinoaries.com lists mid-19th Century. All sources refer to it as
> an Americanism. Etymonline suggests possible derivation from jam (crowd)
> influenced by shivaree, a variant of Charivari, a noisy post-wedding party
> frequently involving tin-horns and banging tin-plates, a precursor to the
> tin-cans on the back of the get-away car.*
>
> *1850: Pittsburgh Daily Post, July 3, 1850, page 2. Song title in a
> listing of songs in an advertisement for White's New Ethiopian Song Book,
> "Whoop! Jam-bo-ree!".*
>
>
> *A copy of that songbook, apparently unchanged (with original pagination),
> is wholly found within a later published collection songbooks. The
> collection is on HathiTrust, and entitled Christy's and White's Ethiopian
> Melodies, comprising the Melodeon Song Book, Plantation Melodies, Ethiopian
> Song Book, Serenader's Song Book and Christy and Wood's New Song Book,
> Philadelphia, T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 1854.*
>
>
> *The song title in the book suggests a western origin, and possible
> African-American origin:*
>
>
> *"Whoop, Jam-bo-ree. - Jig. As sung by the original Dan Emmett, (in
> imitation of the western boatmen,) at White's Melodoen."*
>
>
> *The lyrics do not give much insight into its intended meaning. The first
> verse and chorus are, "I went down to New Orleans, I tink myself a man, De
> first place I fotched up was on board de Talleyrann. Chorus: Whoop,
> jam-bo-ree! Whoop, jam-bo-ree! Vinegar shoes and paper stockings, Git up!
> ole hoss!"*
>
>
> *The word was in use in Cleveland in 1854 to refer to a party hosted by a
> firehose company. It appears in a collection of Cleveland newspaper
> abstracts compiled in the 1930s.*
>
>
> *The Annals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland W.P.A. Project;
> distributed by the Cleveland Public Library, 1936, page 119:*
>
>
> *"FCD [Forest City Democrat (original name of the Cleveland Leader)] Jan.
> 7, 1854: 3/1 =E2=80=93 The boys of the Hope fire company No. 8 are going to=
> have a
> big time at their jamboree on Jan. 12, and national hall will be crowded to
> overflowing. They expect to realize enough from this festival to make a
> substantial payment toward the purchase of a new engine which will cost
> about $2,500."*
>
> *[END]*
>
>
> *By 1861, the word could be used to refer to a fist-fight or scuffle.*
>
>
> *Vanity Fair, December 28, 1861:*
>
>
> *=E2=80=9C'What ails my Love?=E2=80=99 asked Glorianna, regarding his face =
> for the first
> time; 'whence come these bruised cheeks, those bloody nose, this puffy lip
> and ensanguined mug? Blow me if I don=E2=80=99t think you=E2=80=99ve been o=
> n a jamboree!'=E2=80=9D*
> *[END]"*
>
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>
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