Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come is a village in the Cockpit Country of western Jamaica. It is now a part of a district called Aberdeen, Jamaica, in the north-east section of Saint Elizabeth Parish, and is not extinct, as was originally believed. From the Jamaican dialect, the village name translates in English as, 'If I don't send for you, don't come.'
Located at 430 metres above sea level, it was founded by runaway slaves escaping from estates in Trelawny Parish at the start of the nineteenth century.[1][2]
Origins
editIn 1812, a community of runaways started when a dozen men and some women escaped from the sugar plantations of Trelawny into the Cockpit Country, and they created a village named Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come. It is located near some cliffs and boasted fertile soils in its valleys. The unofficial maroon community of Free black people in Jamaica grew from its start of less than 20 runaway slaves to a large village that supported 14 buildings with shingle roofs and wood floors, raised poultry, hogs and nearly two hundred acres of cultivated land, thickly planted with provisions.[3][4]
It is believed that runaway slaves who secured their freedom during the Second Maroon War, and had been a part of the community of Cuffee, joined Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come in succeeding years.
Conflict with colonial authorities
editBy the 1820s, Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come housed between 50 and 60 runaways. The headmen of the community were escaped slaves named Warren and Forbes. Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come also conducted a thriving trade with slaves from the north coast, who exchanged their salt provisions with the runaways for their ground provisions.[3][4]
In October 1824, the colonial militias tried to destroy this maroon community.[5] Some historians believe that the Maroons of Accompong Town successfully crushed this runaway community.[4][6]
However, recent research shows that these Maroons had limited success, because after they left Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come to return to Accompong Town, a number of the runaways returned to the village and rebuilt huts. The Accompong Maroons succeeded only in killing one man, and capturing two women and three children.[7]
Legacy
editThe community of Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come continued to thrive in the Cockpit Country until Emancipation in the 1830s. It is located in the southwest corner of the Cockpit Country, which is called "The District of Look Behind," now a part of the Upper Aberdeen community, because the redcoats rode two to a horse, one man facing the rear and nervously scanning the trees.[8]
Today, Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come is called Quickstep.
Jamaican poet Kei Miller wrote a poem about Me-no-Sen-You-no-Come.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Me No Sen You No Come locality, Trelawny, Jamaica". Jm.geoview.info.
- ^ Michael Sivapragasam, After the Treaties: A Social, Economic and Demographic History of Maroon Society in Jamaica, 1739–1842, PhD Dissertation (Southampton: Southampton University), June 2018, p. 191.
- ^ a b Sivapragasam, After the Treaties, pp. 191–2.
- ^ a b c Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655–1796 (Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1988), p.159.
- ^ Cynric Williams, A Tour through the island of Jamaica, from the Western to the Eastern End, in the Year 1823 (London: Thomas Hurst, 1827), p. 244.
- ^ Orlando Patterson, Sociology of Slavery, p. 264.
- ^ Sivapragasam, After The Treaties, pp. 192–3.
- ^ Shoumatoff, Alex (31 December 1978). "The Proud People Of Jamaica's Untracked Cockpit Country". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ Duff, Valerie (19 January 2015). "Mapping Kei Miller's Zion". The Critical Flame. Retrieved 6 January 2019.