DALLAS GAWN A CUBA
(from "Mango Time: Folk Songs of Jamaica" Collected by Noel Dexter and Godfrey Taylor, published 2007)

DALLAS GAWN A CUBA

1. Dallas gawn a Cuba,
Dallas gawn a Cuba,
Dallas gawn a Cuba, lef Francella wan fi wanda.

(Chorus)
Maamie, wai oh! She faint 'way!
Sen' fi di docta! She faint 'way!
Run fi di camphor! She faint 'way!
Maamie, wai oh! She faint 'way!

2. Po' Miss Mary daata,
Po" Miss Mary daata,
Po' Miss Mary daata,
Po' Francella lef fi wanda.

(Chorus)

3. Johnnie roun' di corner,
Johnnie roun' di corner,
Johnnie roun' di corner,
Him naa lef yu wan fi wanda.

(Chorus)

What is the significance of Dallas going to Cuba? Why would a young Jamaican man choose to go to Cuba in the 19th century? (I assume this is a 19th century/Victorian song, because of the camphor reference- in "Little Women" Jo sees Beth with a "comphor-bottle in her hand" just before Beth gets sick with scarlet fever).