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Friday, November 24, 2023
Examples Of The Jamaican Ring Game "Yes Barrister" (also known as "Skipping In Di Ring", "Yes Balinda", and similar titles)
Jamaican Kids Songs, Dec 6, 2018
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This animated video has a Christmas theme. However, this Jamaican game can be played at anytime and actually has nothing to do with Christmas.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of the Jamaican children's ring (circle) game song "Skipping In Di Ring", also known as "Yes Barrister", "Yes Balinda", and "Yes Bawlinda".
Three lyrics for this Jamaican ring game are included in this post along with performance directions for this game.
The content of this post is presented for cultural and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composer of the "Skipping In Di Ring" song and thanks to the person or persons who created this children's game. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to all those who produced this video and published it on YouTube.
-snip-
This is part of an ongoing pancocojams post about Jamaican children's play. Click the "Jamaican children's play" tag and other tags below for other pancocojams posts in this series.
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EXAMPLES OF THE JAMAICAN CHILDREN'S RING GAME "YES BARRISTER" (AND OTHER TITLES)
These examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
EXAMPLE #1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH4sJ7kRNKw [This is the lyrics for the example that is sung in the video that is embedded in this pancocojams post.]
SKIPPING IN DI RING
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
choose di one yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
Bring him come to judge (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah mawga bwoy yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah mawga bwoy yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
choose di one yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
Bring har come to judge (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah fat girl yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah fat girl yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
choose di one yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
Bring him come to judge (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah hansome bwoy yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah hansome bwoy yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
choose di one yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
Bring har come to judge (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di ring (Yes Bawlinda)
Skipping in di Ring (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah pretty girl yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
A dis yah pretty girl yuh love (Yes Bawlinda)
-snip-
From https://jamaicanpatwah.com/term/Mawga/1178magwa = Skinny
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EXAMPLE #2
Fromhttps://www.my-island-jamaica.com/jamaican_ring_games.html10
Timeless Jamaican Ring Games: This is how we do it Punchinello! [No author or publishing date given; retrieved on Bov.24, 2023]
...."8. Yes, Barrister (Skipping in the Ring)
I was introduced to this one when I came to St. Elizabeth.
The participants select a ‘judge” who occupies a position just away from the
ring.
Everyone sings a song, “Skipping in the ring”. The judge
invites a selected person to “choose the one yu love” and bring to the judge.
The ring goes silent as judge asks a series of questions to
which the person who made the selection must respond such as:
Judge: A dis ya man yu love?
Participant: Yes Barrister!
Judge: A tall man (or any other adjective describing the
person) yu love?
Participant: Yes Barrister!
At this point the judge may ask additional questions to
amuse the audience at the expense of the ‘loved one’ and may finally decide to
keep them in the ring or kick them out.
If the love one was kicked out a new round of selection
begins. Both adults and children play this game. Warning: you may not find all
the judge’s adjectives complementary. It’s all in good fun though."... -snip- From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Elizabeth_Parish "Saint Elizabeth, one of Jamaica's largest
parishes, is located in the southwest of the island, in the county of Cornwall."...
Unknown, October 12, 2015 "can some one please remind me how Yes Balinda plays? doing
characterization with my grade seven children and want to use it to get them in
the mood"
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Reply
Cassius October 14, 2015
"The game is played with the ring (R) responding to things
the (RL) says with "Yes Balinda!"
(RL) Skipping in the ring
(R) "Yes Balinda!"
(RL) Skipping in the ring
(R)"Yes Balinda!"
(RL) Choose the girl/boy you love
(R)"Yes Balinda!"
(RL) Choose the girl/boy you love
(R)"Yes Balinda!"
(RL) Bring her/him come to judge
(R)"Yes Balinda!"
(RL) Bring her/him come to judge
(R)"Yes Balinda!"
(RL) Is this the boy/girl you love?
(R)"Yes Balinda!"
Usually (RL) dishes out insults and (R) responds with yes
balinda. The (RL) can say kick him/her out the ring or keep her/him in the ring
and then the song begins again.
Here's a definition for the word "barrister" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrister "A barrister is a lawyer who represents a litigant as an advocate before a court. A barrister speaks in court and presents the case before a judge, with or without a jury. In some jurisdictions, a barrister receives additional training in evidence law, ethics, and court practice and procedure. In contrast, other legal professionals (such as solicitors) generally meet with clients, perform preparatory and administrative work, and provides legal advice. Barristers often have little or no direct contact with their clients. All correspondence, inquiries, invoices, and so on, will be addressed to the legal adviser, who is also primarily responsible for the barrister's fees.
In England and Wales, solicitors and chartered legal executives can support barristers when in court, through the managing of large volumes of documents in the case or negotiating a settlement outside the courtroom.
A barrister will usually have rights of audience in the higher courts, whereas other legal professionals will often have more limited access, or will need to acquire additional qualifications to have such access. As in common law countries in which there is a split between the roles of barrister and solicitor, the barrister in civil law jurisdictions is responsible for appearing in trials or pleading cases before the courts.
Barristers usually have particular knowledge of case law, precedent, and the skills to build a case. When another legal professional is confronted with an unusual point of law, they may seek the opinion of a barrister on the issue.”…
The words "Balinda" is spelled very much like the female name "Belinda". My guess is that "Balinda" is a form of the female name "Belinda" and "Bawlinda" is an approximation of how "Balinda" could be pronounced.
I'm also guessing that "Balinda" ("Bawlinda") replaced "barrister" in that song/ring game because the word "barrister" was less familiar to those Jamaican children than that female name "Belinda"/"Balinda"/"Bawlinda". That said, I don't know if the word "Balinda" (or "Belinda" for that matter) is actually given as a female name in Jamaica.
I'd love to "hear" from Jamaicans about this ring game and the name "Balinda".
Also, is this ring game played in other Caribbean nations?
Pandit Ji In Somnath, thanks for your comments. I'm trying to document how old the game "Yes Barrister" is. When did you play it and was it passed down to you from older siblings or parents/teachers?
Varsha's Blog, thanks for your comment. I love learning about Jamaica's culture. For a small island, Jamaica has contributed and continues to contribute so much culture to the world!
Here's a definition for the word "barrister" from
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrister
"A barrister is a lawyer who represents a litigant as an advocate before a court. A barrister speaks in court and presents the case before a judge, with or without a jury. In some jurisdictions, a barrister receives additional training in evidence law, ethics, and court practice and procedure. In contrast, other legal professionals (such as solicitors) generally meet with clients, perform preparatory and administrative work, and provides legal advice. Barristers often have little or no direct contact with their clients. All correspondence, inquiries, invoices, and so on, will be addressed to the legal adviser, who is also primarily responsible for the barrister's fees.
In England and Wales, solicitors and chartered legal executives can support barristers when in court, through the managing of large volumes of documents in the case or negotiating a settlement outside the courtroom.
A barrister will usually have rights of audience in the higher courts, whereas other legal professionals will often have more limited access, or will need to acquire additional qualifications to have such access. As in common law countries in which there is a split between the roles of barrister and solicitor, the barrister in civil law jurisdictions is responsible for appearing in trials or pleading cases before the courts.
Barristers usually have particular knowledge of case law, precedent, and the skills to build a case. When another legal professional is confronted with an unusual point of law, they may seek the opinion of a barrister on the issue.”…
The words "Balinda" is spelled very much like the female name "Belinda". My guess is that "Balinda" is a form of the female name "Belinda" and "Bawlinda" is an approximation of how "Balinda" could be pronounced.
ReplyDeleteI'm also guessing that "Balinda" ("Bawlinda") replaced "barrister" in that song/ring game because the word "barrister" was less familiar to those Jamaican children than that female name "Belinda"/"Balinda"/"Bawlinda". That said, I don't know if the word "Balinda" (or "Belinda" for that matter) is actually given as a female name in Jamaica.
I'd love to "hear" from Jamaicans about this ring game and the name "Balinda".
Also, is this ring game played in other Caribbean nations?
Yes Barrister" is a delightful traditional Jamaican ring game that brings back fond childhood memories.
ReplyDeletePandit Ji In Somnath, thanks for your comments. I'm trying to document how old the game "Yes Barrister" is. When did you play it and was it passed down to you from older siblings or parents/teachers?
DeleteThe intricacies of "Skipping In Di Ring" showcase the cultural richness of Jamaican folk games.
ReplyDeleteVarsha's Blog, thanks for your comment. I love learning about Jamaica's culture. For a small island, Jamaica has contributed and continues to contribute so much culture to the world!
DeleteI remember playing "Yes Balinda" with friends – it's amazing how these games unite generations.
ReplyDelete