27. Bellamina

Round dance (AAFS 432 B)
Performed by Nassau string band
Recorded at the Lucerne Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas, in July 1935
Previously unreleased

"In autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road Zora Neale Hurston recalls hearing this song on her first visit to Nassau in 1929:

I loved the place the moment I landed. Then, that first night as I lay in bed, listening to the rustle of a coconut palm just outside my window, a song accompanied by string and drum broke out in full harmony. I got up and peeped out and saw four young men and they were singing "Bellamena," led by Ned Isaacs. I did not know him then, but I met him the next day. The song has a beautiful air, and the oddest rhythm. I found out later that it was a song about a rum-running boat that had been gleaming white, but after it had been captured by the United States Coast Guard and released, it was painted black for obvious reasons.

That was my welcome to Nassau, and it was a beautiful one. The next day I got an idea of what prolific song-makers the Bahamans are. With that West African accent grafted on English of the uneducated Bahaman, I was told, "You do anything, we put you in sing." I walked carefully to keep out of "sing."

A version of "Bellamina" similar to the one presented here was recorded by Blind Blake and His Royal Calypsos in Nassau in the early 1950s (ART ALP-4A).

Several other ships are mentioned in this song: the Mystery J. was an auxiliary yacht carrying passengers between Nassau and Miami. The S.S. Munargo belonged to the Munson Steamship Lines, performing a regular passenger service between New York and Nassau.

Bellamina, Bellamina,
Bellamina in the harbor,
Bellamina, Bellamina,
Bellamina in the harbor,
Put Bellamina on the dock
And paint Bellamina black, black, black.
Put Bellamina on the dock
And paint Bellamina black.

The Mystery, the Mystery,
She always carry whisky,
The Mystery, the Mystery,
She always carry whisky.
Put the Mystery on the dock,
And paint the Mystery black, black, black.
Put the Mystery on the dock,
And paint the Mystery black.

The Maise, the Maise,
She almost made me crazy,
The Maise, the Maise,
She almost made me crazy.
Put the Maise on the dock
And paint the Maise black, black, black.
Put the Maise on the dock
And paint the Maise black.

The Munargo, the Munargo,
She got stuck in New York harbor,
The Munargo, the Munargo,
Put the Munargo on the dock
And paint the Munargo black, black, black.
Put the Munargo on the dock
And paint the Munargo black.
(Repeat first verse)

[Bahamas 1935: Ring Games and Round Dances, Rounder 82161-1832-2, ©℗ 2002 Rounder Records Corp.]
[Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Track on a Road (New York: Harper Perennial, 1996, pp.157-58)]


Nassau String Band - Bellamina (Bahamas, 1935)