Azizi--
Yup! That's what I meant. Hugill learned "Eki Dumah" in St. Lucia. It was supposed to be very popular in "West Indian Traders." For various reasons (partly intuitive) I suspect that it is from that ~southern~ Caribbean area. One definite reason why Guyana or Trinidad are most likely is because that is the area that got a lot of Indian immigrants.

Hugill writes: "In this example the words 'Eki dumah!' are probably a corruption of the Hindustani expression 'Ek dom', i.e. one man."

I am quite sure that he is wrong. It must really be (spelled more accurately) "ek-dam" which literally means "one breath" and effectively means "At once" / "all at once" / "All together." This is certainly something that Indians might say in a work song when they have to pull all together. "Ek" rhymes with "break"; "dam" sounds like "dumb". The reason for "ek-i" and "dum-ah" is simply the fact that in Hindi one enunciates consonants to their full value, even at the end of words and especially in songs or other rhythmic speech. In order to enunciate a consonant in full, it is considered that an accompanying short vowel sound need follow it. So the singers of this song or Hugill must have heard the over-enunciated song-pronunciation of the words and assumed them to have phonemic value. Of course, when we read the text now, the mis-spelling prompts us to OVER pronounce thise letters, as long vowels.

Here's the text of the song:

Kay, kay kay kay!
Eki dumah!
Kay, kay kay kay!
Eki dumah!
Somersett a-killa coolie man
Eki dumah!
Somersett a-killa Bosun's mate
Eki dumah!
Somersett a-killa wirefall
Eki dumah!
Somersett a-killa coolie man
Eki dumah!
Kay, kay kay kay!
Eki dumah!
Kay, kay kay kay!
Eki dumah!

Other verses:
Sailorman no likee Bosun's Mate
Bosun's Mate no likee Head Serang
Head Serang no like Number One
Number One no likee coolie man

I don't know what "kay, kay" means -- if it is anything but just nonsense syllables. It really doesn't mean anything productive in Hindi or Punjabi, nor, I would guess Bengali or Bhojpuri. I am vaguely aware that there is a dance-song thingey of Guianan culture called "que-que" --pronounced KWEY KWEY, I think -- but that's just a WAG. I'd vote for nonsense vocable.

The English verses sound to me not so much as a Caribbean creole but more like the ~Chinese~ pidgin that worked as a lingua franca, with of course the Indian sailor terms thrown in ("serang," "coolie").

Interestingly, Stan Hugill popularized this one among Polish chantey singers especially.

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Jerry/Lighter

Yes! I remember the "Bengal Bay...to teach the whales to dance" reference in Lloyd's "Heave Away." I've since wondered why one would associate the Bengal Bay with whaling -- surely there are a hundred more places better associated with whaling? (though I may be mistaken!) Nonetheless, it is a personal line, which is cool.