What Are The Lyrics For The Jamaican Maroon Songs "Granny Nanny Train ah Come (Walk in Deh)" And "Granny Nanny Come On"?

SaintAnthonyOne, Sep 16, 2016

"Granny Nanny Train ah Come, Walk in Deh". Step in and jump to the pulsating indigenous Maroons' Drumbeats. The Moore Town Maroons Granny Nanny Cultural Group."
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This Maroon performance group sing this song while they do their traditional dance around a circle. Two drummers are seated inside the circle. Some audience members dance along with The Moore Town Maroons Granny Nanny Cultural Group.

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Edited by Azizi Powell
 
This pancocojams post showcases a 2016 YouTube video of Jamaica's Moore Town Maroons Granny Nanny Cultural Group performing the song "Granny Nanny Train Ah Come (Walk In Deh)" (also found as "Maroon Train Ah Come (Walk In Deh)."

This post also showcases a sound file of another Jamaican Maroon song "Granny Nanny Come Oh" and provides some information about Queen Nanny who is also known as "Granny Nanny". 

I've searched online, but haven't found any words for these Jamaican Maroon call & response songs.

Please add to the folkloric record by sharing these songs' lyrics and by sharing any information you may have about when these songs were first sung and whether they are  religious songs or social resistence/protest songs or both. Also, are the composer/s of these songs known?   

The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the Maroon cultural groups for helping to keep alive the music legacy of the Jamaican Maroons.Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
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Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNW9v7THD5M&ab_channel=Rochielin for a YouTube video entitled "WHO ARE THE MAROONS IN JAMAICA? JOURNEY TO ACCOMPONG TOWN JAMAICA | Part 1" and click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvUjQF23cM0&ab_channel=Rochielin for a YouTube video entitled "THE MAROONS JAMAICA | MOORETOWN | NANNY FALLS"

Also, click the tags given below for more information about Jamaica's Maroons and about Jamaica's Queen Nanny (Granny Nanny).

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YOUTUBE SOUND FILE

The Granny Nanny Cultural Group- Topic, January 6, 2017

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAROON QUEEN NANNY (GRANNY NANNY)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanny_of_the_Maroons
"Queen Nanny, Granny Nanny or Nanny or Nanny of the Maroons (c. 1686 – c. 1755), was an 18th-century leader of the Jamaican Maroons. She led a community of formerly enslaved Africans called the Windward Maroons.[1] In the early 18th century, under the leadership of Nanny, the Windward Maroons fought a guerrilla war over many years against British authorities in the Colony of Jamaica in what became known as the First Maroon War.

Much of what is known about her comes from oral history, as little textual evidence exists. According to Maroon legend, Queen Nanny was born in what is today Ghana of the Akans people.[2] According to the oral tradition and at least one documentary source, she was never enslaved.[2] ...

During the years of warfare, the British suffered significant losses in their encounters with the Windward Maroons of eastern Jamaica. Maroons attributed their success against the British to the successful use of supernatural powers by Nanny, but historians argue that the Maroon mastery of guerrilla warfare played a significant role in their success. Having failed to defeat them on the battle field, the British sued for peace, signing a treaty with them on 20 April 1740.[2] The treaty stopped the hostilities, provided for state sanctioned freedom for the Maroons, and granted 500 acres of land to Nanny and her followers. The village built on the land grant still stands and today is called Moore Town. It is also known as the New Nanny Town. Modern members of the Moore Town celebrate 20 April 1740 as a holiday.

In 1975, the government of Jamaica declared Nanny as their only female national hero celebrating her success as a leader, military tactician and strategist.[3] Her image is also on the Jamaican $500 note which is called a Nanny in Jamaican slang.

[...]

According to Maroon oral history, Nanny's success in defending her people against overwhelming British forces was often attributed to her mysterious supernatural powers. According to legend, Nanny had magical powers, and could catch bullets and then redirect them back at the people who shot at her.[1]

[...]

Some claim that Queen Nanny lived to be an old woman, dying of natural causes in the 1760s. The exact date of her death remains a mystery. Part of the confusion is that "Nanny" is an honorific title*, and many high-ranking women were called that in Maroon Town. However, the Maroons are adamant that there was only one "Queen Nanny."[24]

 [...]

According to Maroon oral history, Nanny's remains are buried at "Bump Grave" in Moore Town.[25]

 Accolades

Nanny is celebrated in Jamaica and abroad:

The government of Jamaica declared Queen Nanny a National Hero in 1975. Colonel C.L.G. Harris of Moore Town, then a Senator in Jamaica's upper house, was the driving force behind the move to recognise Nanny as a National Heroine.[25]

Her portrait is featured on the $500 Jamaican dollar bill, which is colloquially referred to as a "Nanny".[26]

Nanny is celebrated every October on Jamaican National Heroes Day.[27]

Nanny's Monument is located in Moore Town, Portland, Jamaica.[28]

Nannyville Gardens, a residential community located in Kingston, Jamaica, was founded in 1977 and named after her.

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale University in the United States uses Nanny's portrait in its logo. The Center sponsors research and conferences on slavery in the Americas."
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*The word "Nanny" originated from the Akan word "Nana".
From  http://www.odwirafo.com/nanasom.html
[in] "the Twi language of the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast, Nana is a gender-neutral title representing the highest office in society. It is also a term used to denote Grandmother, Grandfather, Elderess, Elder, venerable Ancestress and venerable Ancestor."

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-nana-means-in-akan-culture-its-use.html#:~:text=%5Bin%5D%20%22the%20Twi%20language,venerable%20Ancestress%20and%20venerable%20Ancestor.%22 for a 2014 pancocojams post entitled "What "Nana" Means In Akan Culture & The Use Of The Word In Jamaican Maroons & By African Americans".

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Visitor comments are welcome.

What "Nana" Means In Akan Culture & The Use Of The Word In Jamaican Maroons & By African Americans

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post continues a pancocojams series that explores the meaning of certain Akan (Twi) names and other words that are used by people of the African Diaspora. This post focuses on the use of the Twi word "nana" and its derivative "nanny" by Jamaican Maroons and by African Americans.

Other posts in this series can be found by clicking on the tags "Akan culture" or "Akan Day Names".

The content of this post is presented for cultural and eytmological purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the Akan people throughout the world. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, all those who are featured in these videos. And thanks to the publishers of those videos on YouTube.

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WHAT "NANA" MEANS IN AKAN CULTURE
From http://www.odwirafo.com/nanasom.html
[in] "the Twi language of the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast, Nana is a gender-neutral title representing the highest office in society. It is also a term used to denote Grandmother, Grandfather, Elderess, Elder, venerable Ancestress and venerable Ancestor."

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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nana_(title)
"Nana is a Ghanaian title.

Amongst the Akan clans of Ghana, the word Nana generally denotes social eminence derived from either nobility or advanced age. It is most often used as a pre-nominal honorific by individuals who are entitled to it due to the former of the two ( E.g. kings and chieftains such as Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, the reigning Asantehene of Asanteman )."

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THE USE OF THE TWI WORD "NANA" AMONG JAMAICAN MAROONS
Jamaican Maroons - Granny Nanny
From http://jis.gov.jm/heroes/nanny-of-the-maroons/
"Nanny was a leader of the Maroons at the beginning of the 18th century. She was known by both the Maroons and the British settlers as an outstanding military leader who became, in her lifetime and after, a symbol of unity and strength for her people during times of crisis.

She was particularly important to them in the fierce fight with the British, during the First Maroon War from 1720 to 1739. Although she has been immortalised in songs and legends, certain facts about Nanny (or “Granny Nanny”, as she was affectionately known) have also been documented.

Both legends and documents refer to her as having exceptional leadership qualities. She was a small, wiry woman with piercing eyes. Her influence over the Maroons was so strong, that it seemed to be supernatural and was said to be connected to her powers of obeah. She was particularly skilled in organising the guerilla warfare carried out by the Eastern Maroons to keep away the British troops who attempted to penetrate the mountains to overpower them.

Her cleverness in planning guerilla warfare confused the British and their accounts of the fights reflect the surprise and fear which the Maroon traps caused among them"...
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A video of a song that mentions "Granny Nanny" is given in Example #2 below.

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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanny_of_the_Maroons
"Queen Nanny or Nanny (c. 1685 – unknown, circa 1755), Jamaican National Hero,[1] was a well-known leader of the Jamaican Maroons in the eighteenth century. Much of what is known about Nanny comes from oral history as little textual evidence exists. However, historical documents refer to her as the "rebels (sic) old obeah woman," and they legally grant "Nanny and the people now residing with her and their heirs . . . a certain parcel of Land containing five hundred acres in the parish of Portland . . ." (quoted in Campbell 177, 175). Nanny Town was founded on this land.

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THE USE OF THE TWI WORD "NANA" AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS [re-worded 8/8/2017]
"Nana" as a referent for a person's grandmother:
The word "nana" is sometimes used in the United States, including by African Americans, as a referent for a person's grandmother. However, that word may have come from multiple sources. My sense is that most African Americans or other Americans who used or use "nana" as a referent for "grandmother" aren't aware that that word has that meaning in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

Be that as it may, I've included a video below [Video Example #3) of Sweet Honey In The Rock's song "No Mirrors In My Nana's House".

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"Nana" as a title for an African American spiritual leader"
From http://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=2013.0;wap2 "Nana Dinizulu"
"In 1965, the late Nana Yao Opare Dinizulu I, whose research had revealed to him that his ancestors came from Ghana, traveled to the Akonedi Shrine in Ghana for an oracular consultation, which was done by Okomfohemmaa Nana Akua Oparebea's mother. Nana Dinizulu was directed to his ancestral home through divination. He was completely overwhelmed. He was initiated and upon his return brought to the USA, Nana Asuo Gyebi, Esi Ketewaa and Adade Kofi shrines. In 1967, he established the traditional African religious and cultural organization, Bosum Dzemawodzi in New York.

In 1971, the late Nana Dinizulu requested, received and established the Akonedi Shrine in the U.S.A. Nana Dinizulu was given the titles of Omanhene and Okomfohene of Akans in America, as he was the first to introduce Africans born in America (African Americans) to the Deities of Ghana, West Africa. He invited Okomfohemmaa Nana Akua Oparebea to visit the USA.

In 1971, Okomfohemma Nana Akua Oparebea accepted the invitation and traveled to America. Once here she established Nana Asuo Gyebi, Esi Ketewaa and Tegare shrines in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, California and Toronto, Canada. When returning to Ghana, she took young men and women to train at the Akonedi Shrine at Larteh . She taught Nana Dinizulu how to train Okomfo" (traditional Priests and Priestesses) to serve the Deities. Since that time, many other Shrines and Deities have been brought to America by other Akomfo who were trained in Larteh, at other Shrines in Ghana, and by accomplished Akomfo in the USA."...

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FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: KING OSEI TUTU II VISITS ATLANTA


oupipeestudios Uploaded on Apr 6, 2007

Ghana's great king visit to Atlanta [in 2004]

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Example #2: Forward Forever United- Saluting Jamaica's National Heroes



Jamaican Sinting Published on Oct 15, 2012

Remember our Primary school song about the Jamaican National Heroes?...
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The words to the Jamaican patriotic song "Forward Forever United" are given in the publisher's summary. The first verse is:
"Granny Nanny of Nanny Town
symbol of unity and strength
lighted the flame of freedom
in the hearts of earlier Jamaicans"

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Example #3: No Mirrors In My Nana's House



tubelogin, Uploaded on Nov 18, 2009
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Here's the first verse of that song by Y.M. Barnwell ©1992

"There were no mirrors in my Nana's house,
no mirrors in my Nana's house.
There were no mirrors in my Na's house,
no mirrors in my Nana's house.
And the beauty that I saw in everything
was in her eyes (like the rising of the sun)."
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/09/sweet-honey-in-rock-no-mirrors-in-my.html for a pancocojams post about that song.

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Visitor comments are welcome.