2 Religious Material: translations and transliterations

2.1 The first religious manuscripts

The earliest of religious texts in the tradition of the Moravian Brethren is ms. 333 from 1754. It forms the annex to Christmas day in Samy Isles' diary kept from 1754-55. It represents the translation of a hymn as sung by the children of the congregation that day. It was published in Stein (1982b).

In this section we present ms. 334 instead, which is part A of an annex to an anonymous diary kept by one of the Moravian missionaries, dated 1755.

2.1.1 Several creole hymns (ms. 334)

The following texts come from Herrnhut manuscript 334, called ‘Annex to the St. Thomas diary of the month of August 1755’. This manuscript contains two parts: part A, which is called ‘Several creole hymns’, and part B, which is a list in German of names of 48 women. Here, only part A is given:

Beylage zum Diario von St. Thomas

vom Mon. August. 1755.

<lm•A.)> Etliche Cariolische Lied*e*r1

*

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Melod. O Haupt voll Blut u. *Wunde...*.5

1.

2

3.

4.

*

*

*

*

*

**

*

*

*

*

*

Sein Feuer hize durch uns hin

Sein blutigs Bad soll uns durchziehn

weil ihr seid sein ererbtes Gut

und kostet Ihm sein theures Blut11

*

*

*

*

*

*

Translation

Annex to the diary of St. Thomas

of the month of August 1755.

Several Creole hymns.

Jesus face's sweat

Make(s) our little heart wet and hot

Your blood remain(s) with God's might

In our heart and give(s) us strength.

*

Tune: O head covered with blood and wounds.

2.2 Printed work

In the period 1765-1834 several hymnals were published. The first one of those was Gebeden en Liederen voor die swart Broeder-Gemeenten na S. Thomas, S. Croix en S. Jan., the hymnal of the Moravian Brethren. In 1770 the Danish missionaries published their first printed hymnals. The last printed work was the Danish Creol Psalm-Buk, of een Vergaedring van Oûwe en nywe Psalmen na Creol-Tael. The printing history of the Danish hymnals is quite complex, and we have tried to clarify the situation somewhat in the bibliography in this volume.

In this section we present some examples from the 1765 edition of the hymnal for the Moravian Brethren and from the 1823 edition of the hymnal for the Danish mission.

2.2.1 The Herrnhuter Hymnal of 1765 (3.1.3)

According to Oldendorp's history of the Moravian mission, some hymns were already translated into creole in 1749 (Oldendorp 1987:454). Although he also mentions a publication from 1761 (p.540-541), Oldendorp (1987:573) writes:

‘In order to promote liturgical singing, the first Creole hymn booklet was published in Europe in 1765. It reached the island the following year and it was put to use in the service of the Negro congregation. No matter how rudimentary it was, this first effort provided the impetus for the consideration of the compilation of a more complete and articulate hymn book in the Creole language.’

The translator of the hymnal was possibly Johann Böhner, who also translated large parts of the Bible into Negerhollands (Oldendorp 1987:540-541). Here is one example from this first printed hymn booklet.

6.

Translation

2.2.2 A Danish hymnal (1823)

The history of the Danish translations of hymns is rather complex. Some of the works were re-editions of others, and for others it is quite hard to say who is the composer. In the bibliography of the present work, more information about each publication can be found.

In this section is an example from Creol Psalm-Buk of een Vergaedring van Oûwe en nywe Psalmen na Creol-Sprack (1823). According to Lund's correspondence with the Danish Missionary Society kept in RA (RA, Privatinstituter. Det Danske Missions Selskab. Privatarkiv nr. 10.162. Pk. 324.), this hymnal is a re-edition of the 1770 one, enlarged with 30 hymns written by him in 1797. Strangely enough, Lund says in a letter of 12 December 1822 that he does not know of any other hymnal than the 1770 edition (see Wold). Yet the 1823 one corresponds in several ways to the 1799 one by Brandt. In an 1827 edition, hymn 17 agrees completely, except for minor spelling differences, with the text supplied in a letter by Lund of 3 June 1823. Here we print the hymns 79 and 80.

98

No. 79.

Mel. I Jesu Navn27.

Translation

Number 79.

tune: In Jesus' Name

99

No. 80.

Mel. Guds Søn er kommen32.

Translation

Number 80.

tune: God's son has come.